ATLAS · SEAPORTS · SOUTH AFRICA

Seaports in South Africa

South Africa has 8 portsin the World Port Index — 2 large deep-water ports, 4 medium and 2 smaller harbours. They sit on South Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean. Below: how they split by size, and the biggest harbours. From the NGA World Port Index, snapshot 2026-06-22.

PORTS8
LARGE · MEDIUM2 · 4
ONSouth Atlantic Ocean

By harbour size

Large2 · 25%
Medium4 · 50%
Small1 · 13%
Very small1 · 13%

Biggest ports in South Africa

The largest harbours in the snapshot, with their water body and harbour type.

largeDurbanIndian Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA DURmax 350 m
largeCape TownSouth Atlantic Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA CPTmax 340 m
mediumSaldanha BaySouth Atlantic Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA SDBmax 340 m
mediumPort ElizabethIndian Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA PLZmax 324 m
mediumRichards BayIndian Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA RCBmax 300 m
mediumMossel BayIndian Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA MZYmax 130 m
smallEast LondonIndian Ocean · River (Natural) · ZA ELS
very smallSimonstownSouth Atlantic Ocean · Coastal (Breakwater) · ZA SMNmax 195 m

Ports in other countries

United States · Canada · United Kingdom · Japan · Norway · Indonesia · Italy · Sweden