Zanzibar, Tanzania
Port · TZZNZ · -6.16°, 39.19° · Vegetable Products, Mineral Products, Prepared Foodstuffs & Beverages
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 1
- archive messages
- 9
- vessel calls / yr
- 267
About the port
The World Port Index lists Zanzibar as a small coastal natural harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 11 m in the channel, 13 m at the anchorage and 5 m at the cargo pier, with a mean rise of tide of 3 m.
Entry can be restricted by other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated limited, with a small drydock.
PortWatch estimates 325 port calls at Zanzibar from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 27 a month, 6% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 61%, tankers 21% and dry bulk carriers 8% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 1.1 million t imported and 50 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Aug 2026 (43 calls) and the quietest Jan 2026 (21).
What is reported near this port
9 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Zanzibar, the earliest issued in 2001; the most common types are piracy (3), incidents (2) and cable ops (2).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Zanzibar 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: 43 calls, 110 thousand t in, 4 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.
Issued in the last 12 months, now cancelled · 1
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- small coastal natural
- shelter
- good
- water body
- Indian Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA VIII
- depths
- channel 11 m · anchorage 13 m · cargo pier 5 m
- mean rise of tide
- 3 m
- entrance restricted by
- other; not ice, swell, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage
- cranes
- mobile; not fixed
- services
- longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- diesel, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- limited
- drydock
- small
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 171 (Enroute) - East Africa and the South Indian Ocean
- chart
- 61204
World Port Index entry Zanzibar (No. 47050), 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 Tanzania's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 8.0%, exports 4.4%.
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.