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Port of Cotonou

Benin

UN/LOCODEBJCOOWhat is a UN/LOCODE?6.3407° N, 2.4339° ELocal timeAfrica/Porto-Novo, UTC+1

In short

Cotonou: no ships detected in port from AIS in the last 3 days (as of Oct 3, 2026, 03:44 UTC). Coverage depends on AIS reception in the area.

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In port now
0
Arrivals, last 24 h
0
Departures, last 24 h
0
Ships nearby, last 6 h
0

Expected arrivals AIS-detected

Ships whose AIS destination names Cotonou, with the arrival time their crew entered. Reported in the last 24 hours, due within 7 days. Crews type these by hand: a destination can be out of date and an ETA can slip.

1 ship shown, earliest first.

VesselETA (UTC)Destination as broadcastMatched by
Liberia IONIKOSCargo (hazardous cat. D)Oct 3, 2026, 14:00 UTCBJCOOUN/LOCODE

Source: AIS voyage reports via AISstream.io global terrestrial AIS. Times are the crew's ETA, not a Voydar estimate. As of Oct 3, 2026, 03:44 UTC.

Vessels near Cotonou

Ships Voydar received on AIS near the port in the last 6 hours, most recent first. Being near a port is not a port call; the board above lists calls.

No vessels detected near Cotonou in the last 6 hours. As our AIS coverage grows, arrivals and departures will appear here live.

Forecast

Model forecast for Cotonou over the next 72 hours, every 6 hours: wind, gusts, waves and visibility. Times in UTC.

Time (UTC)Wind (kn)FromGusts (kn)Waves (m)Period (s)Visibility (km)
9259°131724
8262°120.91024
11208°160.91124
8216°131924
8227°1111022
8234°120.91024
12224°191.1824
9222°131.1724
8254°1211224
6277°1111322

Forecast: ECMWF IFS 0.25° + ECMWF WAM, run of Oct 2, 2026, 12:00 UTC. Visibility: NOAA GFS 0.25° + GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III), run of Oct 2, 2026, 18:00 UTC. Waves are taken from the wave model's nearest sea point, 13 km away.

Source: ECMWF open data (IFS 0.25° forecasts, ECMWF WAM waves). This service is based on data and products of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Source: www.ecmwf.int. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Licence: CC-BY-4.0 + ECMWF Terms of Use.

Source: NOAA GFS 0.25° and GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III) forecasts. Forecast: NOAA NCEP GFS / GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III). Licence: US Government work (public domain); NOAA Open Data Dissemination.

A model forecast, not an observation. Not for navigation.

Cotonou: daily port calls from satellite AIS (IMF PortWatch)

Estimates published by the International Monetary Fund's PortWatch, built from satellite and terrestrial AIS. They cover waters our own receivers do not reach yet. These are the IMF's figures, not Voydar's counts.

The IMF estimates 16 port calls in the 7 days and 66 in the 30 days to Sep 25, 2026. That is 8% less than the same 30 days a year earlier (72).

Container
39
Tanker
10
Dry bulk
11
General cargo
3
Ro-ro
3

Estimated cargo loaded and discharged in those 30 days: 0.5 million tonnes.

IMF PortWatch daily figures for Cotonou, last 14 days
09-12
2
09-13
0
09-14
3
09-15
1
09-16
2
09-17
2
09-18
3
09-19
4
09-20
4
09-21
0
09-22
1
09-23
2
09-24
1
09-25
4

Sources: Kpler; UN Global Platform; IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org). IMF estimates, updated weekly; the latest days are revised. portwatch.imf.org. Counts cover container ships, tankers, dry bulk, general cargo and ro-ro vessels (30-day totals above).

Cotonou: global benchmarks

How Cotonou compares with the world's ports, from published statistics. These are the publishers' figures, not Voydar's own measurements.

Port liner shipping connectivity, 2 2026
166.8
UNCTAD index (100 = the average port in Q1 2023). Up 16% on a year earlier.
Source: UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Data Hub, port liner shipping connectivity index (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved Sep 24, 2026.

Piracy and anti-shipping incidents nearby

83 incidents within 100 km of the port in NGA's Anti-Shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) archive since Mar 26, 2000. NGA stopped updating the archive in 2024. The most recent:

  • Pirate AssaultMar 14, 2024Merchant Vessel100 km away

    NIGERIA: On 14 March at 0550 local time, an unspecified number of perpetrators boarded a merchant vessel anchored at Tin Can Island Lagos, near position 06-25N 003-20E. The perpetrators escaped after being discovered by the duty crew. One crew member suffered an injury during the incident. After the incident, the master notified the local authorities.

  • IncidentFeb 7, 2024Cargo Ship100 km away

    NIGERIA: On 7 February at 2300 local time, up to 10 robbers boarded a Bahamas-flagged container ship berthed at Lagos Port, near position 06-25N 003-20E. The robbers gained access to ship’s stores and stole more than 600 kilograms of paint containers.

  • OtherApr 28, 2023Cargo Ship100 km away

    NIGERIA: On 28 April at 0500 local time, eight perpetrators armed with knives boarded the berthed Liberiaflagged cargo ship MSC WAVE F at Tin Can Island, Lagos, near position 06-25N 003-20E. After being spotted by crew members, the perpetrators escaped overboard to a waiting boat. Nothing was reported stolen and the crew was reported safe.

  • OtherApr 19, 2020Merchant Vessel14 km away

    Tuesday, April 14, 2020 8:03 AM On 19 April, armed men in a speedboat approached and boarded the Portugal-flagged container ship TOMMI RI T SCHER in Cotonou Anchorage at 06:16N - 002:32E. Eleven of the 19 crewmembers managed to secure themselves in the citadel; the armed men kidnapped the other eight crew members. On 20 April, Nigerian Special Forces conducted an unopposed boarding and freed the 11 crew members in the citadel. Reports indicate the TOMMI RI T SCHER had Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgari

  • IncidentMar 26, 2020Tanker41 km away

    On 26 March at 0820 UTC, a speedboat with up to five individuals onboard approach an underway tanker approximately 21 NM south-southwest of Cotonou at position 05:59N - 002:21E. The tanker crew observed no weapons on the speedboat, but did see some hooks. The tanker increased speed and undertook evasive maneuvers. After 30 minutes, the speedboat ceased its pursuit.

  • KidnappingMar 6, 2020Tanker83 km away

    On 6 March, Greece�??s Shipping Ministry reported one Filipino crew was abducted on 5 March, when as many as six persons boarded tanker MINERVA VIRGO in position 05:36N - 002:20E, 45 NM south of Cotonou. The majority of the crew reached the citadel with one person unaccounted for.

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