List of Panamax ports explained

A Panamax port is a deepwater port that can accommodate a fully laden Panamax ship. With the completion of the Panama Canal expansion project in 2016, this list will need to be significantly revised due to larger "post panamax" ships transiting Panama. Other lists are required for even bigger Valemax and Chinamax ships.^[1]

Africa

Mediterranean Sea

• Djendjen (Jijel), Algeria
• Tanger-Med, Morocco

Atlantic Ocean

(from North to South)

• Nouadhibou, Mauritania - iron ore terminal.
• Nouakchott, Mauritania - proposed railhead for phosphate mine.
• Port Kamsar, Guinea - bauxite loading port, origin of Kamsarmax ship type.
• Monrovia, Liberia - proposed deepening to 20m for 200,000t vessels.^[2]
• Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana - built 1928
• Tema, Ghana - built 1961
• Cotonou - Benin
• Lomé - Togo^[3]
• Lekki Deep Sea Port, Nigeria Began operations in April 2023, it is currently the largest deep water port in Africa. Designed to welcome post-panamax category vessels. ^[4]
• Ibom Deep Sea Port, Nigeria - undergoing implementation ^[5]
• Kribi, Cameroon - oil terminal
  • Iron ore Mbalam and Nabela - 300 000 tonnes
  • Bauxite - future ^[6]

• Owendo, Gabon - railhead
• São Tomé e Príncipe - island transhipment port.
• Lobito, Angola
• Walvis Bay, Namibia - railhead

Proposed

(from North to South)

• Bargny, Senegal^[7]
• Matakong, Guinea - deepwater port for Simandou and Kalia iron ore
• Tagrin Point, Sierra Leone - for iron ore
• Dadia, Liberia - Liberty Corridor
• San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire - for iron ore
• Port Notel Ocean Terminal, Ibeno Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria
• Ikot Akpatek, Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria - proposed
• Lolabé, Cameroon - iron ore export
• Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
• Santa Clara, Gabon - proposed deepwater port with railhead for Makokou iron ore.
• Indienne, Congo^[8]
• Barra do Dande, Angola (Bengo Province)
• Shearwater Bay, Namibia - coal^[9] (30 km south of Luderitz)

Red Sea

• Berbera, Somalia
• Port Sudan, Sudan
• Massawa, Eritrea

Indian Ocean

(from North to South)

• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Kismayo, Somalia
• Kilindini Harbour, Mombasa, Kenya^[10]
• Mtwara, Tanzania
• Nacala, Mozambique - railhead for Malawi
• Richards Bay, South Africa
• Ngqura, South Africa

Proposed

• (from North to South)
  • • Garacad, Somalia Lamu Port, Lamu, Kenya Pangani, Tanzania^[11]
• Pemba, Mozambique
• Technobanine Point, Mozambique

Americas

Canada

Arctic Ocean

• Port of Churchill - terminal on Hudson Bay that handles grain, bulk commodities, general cargo, and tanker vessels.

Atlantic Ocean

• Sept-Îles - iron ore terminal on the Saint Lawrence River.
• Port Cartier - iron ore terminal on the Saint Lawrence River.
• Quebec City - deepwater terminal on the Saint Lawrence River and the gateway to the Great Lakes, capable of accommodating Panamax and Capesize vessels with 50 feet of water at low tide
• Chandler - large deepwater wharf
• Melford Terminal (proposed) - deepwater terminal on the Strait of Canso.
• Port of Saint John — deepwater port in the Bay of Fundy.
• Port of Halifax - most easterly North American full-service container port.
• Sydney

Pacific Ocean

• Port of Prince Rupert - deep sea port with direct rail connections to major North American cities.
• Port Alberni - fjord-like channel that deep sea vessels and cruise ships can easily navigate.
• Port of Vancouver - modern port of entry on the west coast of Canada.
• Squamish Terminals - breakbulk terminal on the west coast of Canada specializing in the movement of forestry, steel, and project cargo.
• Crofton - The main factor for its location is the depth of the water, unusual for the east coast of Vancouver Island.
• Kitimat - year-round deep-sea shipping connects North America to the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Rim. According to the Transport Canada's Technical Review Process of Marine Terminal Systems and Transshipment Sites (TERMPOL) the passageway into the Port of Kitimat is "safely accessible by Panamax vessels, VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) VLCC’s and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs) up to 320,000 DWT. A strategic port in the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines project.

Greenland

Arctic Ocean

• Thule Air Base, Greenland - northernmost deepwater port in the world.^[12]

United States

Atlantic Ocean

• Port of Boston
• Port of New York and New Jersey, includes
  • Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal
  • Port Jersey
• Port of Philadelphia^[13]
• Port of Wilmington
• Port of Baltimore
• Hampton Roads - complex includes naval and commercial facilities
  • Port of Virginia
  • Naval Station Norfolk
• Port of Morehead City
• Port of Charleston
• Port of Savannah
• Port of Jacksonville
• Port Canaveral^[14]
• Port Everglades
• Port of Miami

Gulf of Mexico

• Port Corpus Christi - fifth-largest port in the United States in total tonnage.^[15] Panamax class vessels are handled at the Port's Bulk Terminal.
• Port of Tampa
• Port of Mobile - only deepwater port in the state of Alabama
• Port of New Orleans
• Port of Beaumont - deepwater port located in Beaumont, Texas.
• Port of Galveston - oldest port on the Gulf Coast, west of New Orleans.
• Port of Houston - located in Houston, Texas, tenth-busiest port in world by tonnage.

Pacific Ocean

• Port of Seattle
• Port of Tacoma
• Port Madison - sometimes called Port Madison Bay, a deepwater bay located on Puget Sound.
• Port Angeles
• Port of Grays Harbor
• Port of Longview
• Port of Kalama
• Port of Vancouver USA
• Port of Portland - three post-Panamax terminals.
• Port of Coos Bay - Oregon's second busiest seaport
• Port of Humboldt Bay - (aka Port of Eureka) the only deepwater port in California north of San Francisco Bay
• Port of Richmond
• Port of Stockton - California's farthest-inland deepwater port.
• Port of Oakland - channel is fifty feet deep and eight hundred feet wide.
• Port of Redwood City - resulting from dredging the mouth of Redwood Creek
• Port of Hueneme - only deepwater port between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the only military deepwater port between San Diego Bay and Puget Sound
• Port of Los Angeles - busiest port in the United States.
• Port of Long Beach - one of the busiest container ports in the world.
• Port of San Diego - home to the bulk of the United States Navy Pacific Carrier Fleet. Only the first nine miles (14 km) of the bay are accessible to Panamax vessels.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Atlantic Ocean

• Buenos Aires - Argentina
• Bahía Blanca - Argentina
• Quequén - Argentina
• Santos - Brazil
• Port of Tubarão, Vitória - Brazil, largest iron ore embarking port in the world deep-water port receiving ships 350,000 tons
• Ponta da Madeira - Brazil
• Ponta Ubu - Brazil
• Guaiba - Brazil, iron ore export terminal owned and operated by Vale (ex CVRD) in Sepetiba Bay
• Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, iron ore export terminal now owned and operated by Vale (ex CVRD) in Sepetiba Bay
• Port of Montevideo - Uruguay
• Port of Paranaguá - Brazil, commodities
• Port of Rio Grande - Brazil, commodities

Caribbean Sea

• Barranquilla, Colombia
• Bridgetown - dredging project started in 2002 now allows for some of the world's largest cruise ships to berth in Barbados.^[16]
• Grand Bahama, Bahamas - Freeport Container Port
• Cartagena, Colombia
• Ciénaga, Colombia - coal export port
• Colón - Panama
• Boca Grande, Venezuela - iron ore transfer station
• Port Lafito - Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Port of the Americas (Port of Ponce) - capable of servicing post-Panamax vessels with a controlling depth of 50feet.^[17]

Gulf of Mexico

• Port of Mariel - Cuba (Neo-Panamax) ^[18]

Pacific Ocean

• Buenaventura, Colombia
• Valparaíso - Chile
• Manta - Ecuador
• Puerto Bolívar - Ecuador
• Port of Ensenada, Baja California - Mexico
• Port of Lázaro Cárdenas - Mexico
• Manzanillo, Colima - Mexico

Proposed

• Punta Colonet, Baja California^[19] - Mexico
• Posorja^[20] - Ecuador

Asia

Bangladesh

Proposed

• Matarbari Port

Brunei

• Muara - Brunei's only deepwater port

Cambodia

• Port of Sihanoukville

China

• Anqing
• Beihai
• Caofeidian
• Dalian
• Dandong
• Dongguan
• Fangchenggang
• Foshan
• Fuzhou
• Guangzhou
• Haikou
• Huanghua
• Huizhou
• Huludao
• Humen
• Jiangyin
• Jiaxing
• Jingtang
• Jinzhou
• Lianyungang
• Lianyungang
• Longkou
• Luzhou
• Macun
• Maoming
• Meizhou
• Nanjing
• Nantong
• New Seaport
• Ningbo-Zhoushan
• Qingdao
• Qinhuangdao
• Qinzhou
• Quanzhou
• Rizhao
• Shanghai
• Shantou
• Shenzhen
• South Port
• Suzhou
• Taizhou
• Tianjin
• Weihai
• Wenzhou
• Wuhan
• Xiamen
• Xiuying
• Yangjiang
• Yangpu
• Yangshan
• Yangzhou
• Yantai
• Yantian
• Yingkou
• Yueyang
• Zhangzhou
• Zhanjiang
• Zhenjiang
• Zhongshan
• Zhuhai

Hong Kong

• Kwai Chung / Tsing Yi
• Tuen Mun

India

• Cochin Port, Kochi
• Dhamra Port
• Gangavaram Port
• Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Navi Mumbai
• Kakinada Port
• Krishnapatnam Port, Krishnapatnam
• Vizhinjam International Seaport Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum Seaport)

Under construction

• Keni Port
• Machilipatnam Port
• Mulapeta Port
• Ramayapatnam Port

Proposed

• Port of Dahej, Bharuch, Gujarat
• Tajpur Port, West Bengal
• Vadhavan Port

Japan

• Port of Yokohama - post Panamax multi-purpose port
• Kashima - container, dry and wet bulk and general cargo port
• Fukuyama - multi-purpose and dry bulk port

Malaysia

• Port of Tanjung Pelepas
• Johor Port
• Melaka Gateway Deep Sea Port (planned)

Myanmar

• Thilawa Port
• Dawei Port

Proposed

• Kyaukphyu - for import of oil to China

Pakistan

• Port Qasim
• Gwadar Port
• Port of Karachi

Philippines

• Port of Manila
• Batangas International Port
• Port of Subic
• Mabini Bulk Grains Terminal

Taiwan

• Kaohsiung

Saudi Arabia

• Dammam
• Jeddah Seaport

Singapore

• Port of Singapore

Sri Lanka

• Colombo
• Hambantota^[21]

Thailand

• Laem Chabang (1991)

United Arab Emirates

• Jebel Ali/Dubai

Vietnam

• Cai Mep Thi Vai Port

Proposed

• Van Phong Port

Europe

Nordic / Baltic

• Reyðarfjörður, eastern Iceland
• Narvik, northern Norway
• Gothenburg, (west coast of Sweden) - largest port in Scandinavia
• Aarhus, (post-Panamax, main port of Denmark)
• Gdańsk, (Baltimax, post-Panamax, main port of Poland)
• Norrköping, (east coast of Sweden)
• Södertälje, Stockholm
• Helsinki, (post-Panamax, main port of Finland)
• Port of Kokkola, (Capesize, mainly bulk)
• Port of Pori
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Sillamäe, Estonia
• Klaipeda, Lithuania
• Port of Ventspils, Latvia
• Freeport of Riga, Latvia

North Sea / mainland

• JadeWeserPort, Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, Germany (oil, coal, chemicals.)
• Port of Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
• IJmuiden, North Holland, Netherlands
• Rotterdam, South Holland (post-Panamax) - largest port in Europe
• Zeebrugge, West Flanders, Belgium
• Antwerp, Belgium
• Dunkirk, northern France (different kinds of liquid and bulk handling.)
• Le Havre, northern France (oil, coal, chemicals, container. Draft up to 82 feet)
• Zeeland Seaports, Zeeland, ports of Vlissingen and Terneuzen

Iberia and Mediterranean

• Algeciras, Andalusia, Spain
• Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
• Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
• Gijon, Asturias, Spain (draft up to 59 feet)
• Gioia Tauro, southern Italy
• Marseille-Fos Port, France
• Omišalj, Croatia (supertanker oil terminal)
• Port of Rijeka, Croatia
• Port of Genoa, Italy
• Port of Lisbon, Portugal
• Sines, Portugal
• Port of Piraeus, Athens, Greece
• Port of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Port of Koper, Slovenia (post-Panamax)
• Port of Trieste, Italy (draft up to 18m/59 feet)

Great Britain

• Southampton, English Channel (post-Panamax, traditional liner port)
• Teesport, Middlesbrough, North Sea
• Falmouth, Cornwall, Atlantic Ocean
• Port of Tyne, Newcastle, North Sea
• Felixstowe, North Sea (post-Panamax, 35% of UK container traffic)
• Barrow, Irish Sea
• Liverpool, Irish Sea. New post-Panamax container terminal under construction,^[22] opening to coincide with the widening of the Panama Canal. Accommodates cruise ships of 345m (1,132feet) in length and draught.
• Port Talbot, Bristol Channel
• Milford Haven, Irish Sea
• Invergordon, Moray Firth
• Hunterston Terminal, Firth of Clyde
• Hound Point, Firth of Forth
• London Gateway. Thurrock, Thames Estuary
• Portland Port, Portland Harbour, English Channel

Ireland

• Cork, deep water multi modal port, south coast of Ireland. Celtic Sea/Atlantic Ocean.
• Aughinish, Ireland
• Moneypoint, Ireland

Ukraine

• Port of Odesa, Black Sea

Oceania

Australia

(clockwise from north)

• Port of Townsville - military port, mineral ores, fertilizer, concentrates, sugar and motor vehicles, able to accommodate 4 Panamax vessels at a time.
• Abbot Point - coal export terminal
• Dalrymple Bay - coal export terminal, part of Hay Point, Queensland
• Hay Point - BHP Mitsubishi Alliance coal export terminal
• Gladstone - coal
• Brisbane - coal, containers
• Newcastle - coal, wheat
• Port Botany (Sydney) - containers
• Port Kembla - coal, wheat, cars
• Melbourne
• Geelong
• Portland, Victoria
• Adelaide Outer Harbor - deepened to Post-Panamax in 2006
• Port Giles
• Port Bonython, Capesize - oil, LPG, diesel and proposed iron ore pending approval and construction of second jetty^[23]
• Whyalla, South Australia - 65,000t ships in inner harbor, Capesize iron ore bulkers serviced in Spencer Gulf via transshipment
• Port Lincoln - grain
• Fremantle
  • Geraldton Oakajee Port - under construction^[24]
• Dampier - north west Western Australia - iron ore.
• Cape Lambert^[25] upgrade 80 mtpa to 180 mtpa
• Port Hedland - north west Western Australia - iron ore.
• East Arm Wharf (Port of Darwin) - Panamax

New Zealand

Wellington

• Ports of Auckland, Auckland
• Lyttelton
• Marsden Point, Whangārei
• Port Taranaki, New Plymouth
• Port Chalmers, Dunedin
• Tauranga

(Source: Recount, Taranaki District Council newsletter, page 5.)

Other

• Apra Harbor - deepwater port on the western side of Guam.

Maps

• Africa
• South East Asia

See also

• List of world's busiest transshipment ports
• Dry port
• Marine transfer operations
• Merchant vessel
• Petroleum transport

Notes and References

1. Web site: U.S. Port Projects Spurred by Panama Canal Expansion . ImsInfo . 2016-01-20 . 2018-09-16.
2. http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/201005100945DOWJONESDJONLINE000216_univ.xml Dow Jones
3. Web site: IOL: Cotonou - a city slowly swallowed by waves.
4. Web site: Nigeria's Deepest Sea Port . Lekki Port . 2018-09-16.
5. Web site: Ibom Deep Sea Port . Ibom Deep Sea Port . 2019-05-19.
6. Web site: Contractor identified for Mbalam-Kribi Port railway in Cameroon. patrick. mulyungi. June 25, 2021. Constructionreview.
7. Web site: Erreur 404 - APIX - Promotion des Investissements et Grands Travaux . Investinsenegal.com . 2018-09-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090107054623/http://www.investinsenegal.com/US/where_mines.html . 2009-01-07 . dead .
8. Web site: Railpage.
9. Web site: Home . Railways Africa . 2018-09-12 . 2018-09-16.
10. Web site: Fayo . Galgallo . Mombasa port raises status with new berth - Business Daily . Businessdailyafrica.com . 2013-08-28 . 2018-09-16.
11. Web site: Railpage.
12. Web site: Peterson Air Force Base - 821st Air Base Group . 2012-07-08 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120708070057/http://www.peterson.af.mil/units/821stairbase/index.asp . 2012-07-08 .
13. Web site: Dredging Works to Bring Post-Panamax Ships to US East Coast Port. August 7, 2012. MarineLink.
14. http://www.portcanaveral.com/general/navigation.php Channel and Dock Statistics and Restrictions
15. Web site: (American Association of Port Authorities).
16. Web site: Barbados Port Inc: Cruise and Cargo Facilities. https://web.archive.org/web/20100903173447/http://www.barbadosport.com/html/cargo.html. dead. September 3, 2010.
17. Web site: PortOfTheAmericas.com . Port Of The Americas . 2018-07-30 . 2018-09-16.
18. Web site: MARIEL CONTAINER TERMINAL NEO-PANAMAX CHANNEL READY . TC Mariel . 11 October 2023.
19. [Railway Gazette International]
20. Web site: Posorja tendrá puerto moderno - Expreso.ec . 2009-12-19 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090809040830/http://www.expreso.ec/ediciones/2009/04/30/economia/posorja-tendra-puerto-moderno/Default.asp . 2009-08-09 .
21. News: Shirajiv . Sirimane . Hambantota port, gateway to world . 2010-02-21 . The Sunday Observer . 2010-03-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100224055824/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/02/21/fea20.asp . 2010-02-24 . live .
22. Web site: Liverpool2 Construction Well Underway. 11 February 2015. 26 May 2015.
23. Web site: Archived copy . 2008-01-31 . 2008-04-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080410155138/http://imagesignal.comsec.com.au/asxdata/20080130/pdf/00806905.pdf . dead .
24. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-04-05 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706123553/http://www.mml.net.au/irm/Company/ShowPage.aspx?CPID=1581&EID=90941890 . 2011-07-06 .
25. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-08-04 . 2020-08-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200807175115/https://www.skynews.com.au/business/article.aspx?id=494389&articleID= . dead .