The full UN/LOCODE seaport directory — 17,524 ports across 232 countries — built for the working seafarer. Each detail page combines the UNECE reference fields (coordinates, time zone, currency, electricity, languages) with the operational layer most directories skip: the named port authority, the nearest seafarer welfare centre, country-level shore-leave and visa policy, and recent port-state-control detentions where the data has been published. About 4.5% of the long-tail ports have a verified port authority today and that share grows with each enrichment round.
How to use this directory:search by name or UN/LOCODE in the box below, or browse by country / region / function code. Tagged crew-change hubs (115 priority ports) carry a green badge near the page header. For the top-30 Asian and South-Asian hubs where centre coverage is densest, look for the "Crew guide" section above the reference table.
Before acting on a record:port authority contact details, shore-leave rules, and visa requirements change frequently. Confirm with the ship's agent before stepping ashore. Every page shows a "last verified" date so you can judge freshness; for any cross-checked field cited as "blocked-by-source", treat it as a directory pointer rather than a published fact.
Ports directory: FAQ
- What is a UN/LOCODE?
- UN/LOCODE is the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations — a five-letter alphanumeric code that identifies a port or transport location (e.g. SGSIN = Singapore, NLRTM = Rotterdam, USNYC = New York). The UN Economic Commission for Europe maintains the registry and updates it twice a year. Every port page in our directory is keyed by its UN/LOCODE.
- Which ports are crew-change hubs?
- Crew-change hubs are ports recognised by IMO MSC.1/Circ.1636 (consolidated 2020-2023), ICS/IFSMA briefings, and ITF priority-port reports as having reliable facilitation for joining and signing off vessels. Our directory tags ~115 priority hubs. Singapore, Rotterdam, Dubai, Houston, Hong Kong, Busan, Hamburg, and Antwerp are among the most-used.
- How do I find shore-leave rules for a port?
- Open the port detail page; the shore-leave block is populated from the country's official immigration/maritime policy where we have it (20 hand-curated + 21 Firecrawl-discovered entries) and a generic country-level fallback for the rest. Confirm with the ship's agent before going ashore — local policy changes.
- What welfare centres are at this port?
- Each port detail page lists the seafarer welfare centres registered to that port — usually Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea), Deutsche Seemannsmission, Sjømannskirken, or a regional ministry. Centres typically offer wifi, transport to and from the ship, shop, chaplaincy, and advocacy.
- Are these port records verified?
- Port reference fields (UN/LOCODE, coordinates, timezone, currency, languages, electricity) come from UNECE, Wikidata, OpenStreetMap, and IANA, and are revalidated on a quarterly cron. Port authorities, welfare centres, and PSC detentions are Firecrawl-cached from official sources with a last-verified date on every page.