Tawau, Malaysia
Port · MYTWU · 4.26°, 117.87°
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 6
- vessel calls / yr
- 259
About the port
The World Port Index lists Tawau as a very small coastal natural harbour with fair shelter.
Listed depths: 17 m in the channel, 13 m at the anchorage, 9 m at the cargo pier and 9 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 3 m.
Entry can be restricted by swell and other conditions.
Pilotage is not compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated none.
Tawau is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 220 port calls at Tawau from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 18 a month, 29% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, tankers 56%, container ships 25% and general cargo ships 11% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 905 thousand t imported and 211 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Nov 2025 (31 calls) and the quietest Feb 2026 (8).
What is reported near this port
6 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Tawau, the earliest issued in 2015; the most common types are incidents (3), piracy (2) and quakes (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Tawau is not necessarily about the port; collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17.
Port calls per month · IMF PortWatch estimates
Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 (last bar: month in progress) · last complete month Aug 2026: 23 calls, 67 thousand t in, 7 thousand t out
Warnings within 60 nm, by year of issue
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- very small coastal natural
- shelter
- fair
- water body
- Celebes Sea; North Pacific Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA XI
- depths
- channel 17 m · anchorage 13 m · cargo pier 9 m · oil terminal 9 m
- mean rise of tide
- 3 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell
- pilotage
- not compulsory
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- cranes
- fixed, mobile
- services
- longshore labour, medical
- supplies
- diesel, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- none
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 163 (Enroute) - Borneo Jawa Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara
World Port Index entry Tawa (No. 51586), matched by UN/LOCODE. NGA Publication 150 (U.S. government work). The index describes the port as last surveyed for the publication; it is not a substitute for Sailing Directions or port authority information.
Share of Malaysia's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 0.3%, exports 0.1%.
Chokepoint and port data: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org) — IMF and the University of Oxford, via the UN Global Platform. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA / coastal broadcasts and port authority notices.