Thunder Bay, Canada
Port · CATHU · 48.38°, -89.24° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Vegetable Products
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 0
- vessel calls / yr
- 447
About the port
The World Port Index lists Thunder Bay as a medium coastal breakwater harbour with excellent shelter.
Listed depths: 6 m in the channel, 9 m at the anchorage, 6 m at the cargo pier and 6 m at the oil terminal.
Entry can be restricted by ice and other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated major, with a medium drydock.
Thunder Bay is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 524 port calls at Thunder Bay from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 44 a month, 5% more than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 83%, general cargo ships 8% and tankers 6% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 143 thousand t imported and 4.0 million t exported.
The busiest month was May 2026 (74 calls) and the quietest Feb 2026 (0).
What is reported near this port
No warning in this archive has its reported position within 60 nm of Thunder Bay.
Port calls per month · IMF PortWatch estimates
Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 (last bar: month in progress) · last complete month Aug 2026: 63 calls, 5 thousand t in, 535 thousand t out
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- medium coastal breakwater
- shelter
- excellent
- water body
- Lake Superior; Great Lakes
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IV
- depths
- channel 6 m · anchorage 9 m · cargo pier 6 m · oil terminal 6 m
- entrance restricted by
- ice, other; not swell, tide
- overhead limits
- no
- turning area
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- cranes
- mobile
- services
- electrical repair, longshore labour, medical, navigation equipment repair; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- major
- drydock
- medium
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- U.S. Coast Pilot 6 - Great Lakes and their connecting waterways
World Port Index entry Thunder Bay (No. 5210), 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 Canada's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 0.1%, exports 1.6%.
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.