Port of Tawau, Sabah
In short
Tawau, Sabah: no ships detected in port from AIS in the last 3 days (as of Oct 6, 2026, 11:47 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
Vessels near Tawau, Sabah
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 Tawau, Sabah in the last 6 hours. As our AIS coverage grows, arrivals and departures will appear here live.
Harbour & facilities
Harbour particulars for Tawau, Sabah from the NGA World Port Index (WPI port no. 51586). Depths in metres as charted by NGA.
- Harbour size
- Very small
- Harbour type
- Coastal (natural)
- Shelter
- Fair
- Channel depth
- 17 m
- Anchorage depth
- 13 m
- Cargo pier depth
- 9 m
- Oil terminal depth
- 9 m
- Mean tide
- 3 m
- Pilotage compulsory
- No
- First port of entry
- Yes
- Repairs
- None
Source: NGA World Port Index (Pub. 150). Licence: US Government public domain.
Not for navigation.
Forecast
Model forecast for Tawau, Sabah over the next 72 hours, every 6 hours: wind, gusts, waves and visibility. Times in UTC.
| Time (UTC) | Wind (kn) | From | Gusts (kn) | Waves (m) | Period (s) | Visibility (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 252° | 9 | 0 | 2 | 24 | |
| 2 | 305° | 5 | 0 | 2 | 24 | |
| 1 | 121° | 3 | 0 | 10 | 22 | |
| 2 | 187° | 9 | 0 | 10 | 24 | |
| 2 | 12° | 7 | 0 | 10 | 21 | |
| 1 | 295° | 3 | 0 | 11 | 24 | |
| 2 | 248° | 6 | 0 | 10 | 24 | |
| 2 | 248° | 10 | 0 | 10 | 24 | |
| 1 | 114° | 9 | 0 | 10 | 24 | |
| 5 | 246° | 10 | 0 | 8 | 24 | |
| 4 | 273° | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
Forecast: ECMWF IFS 0.25° + ECMWF WAM, run of Oct 6, 2026, 00:00 UTC. Visibility: NOAA GFS 0.25° + GFS-Wave (WAVEWATCH III), run of Oct 6, 2026, 06:00 UTC. Waves are taken from the wave model's nearest sea point, 15 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.
Tawau, Sabah: 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 4 port calls in the 7 days and 19 in the 30 days to Sep 25, 2026. That is 21% less than the same 30 days a year earlier (24).
- Container
- 4
- Tanker
- 10
- Dry bulk
- 1
- General cargo
- 4
- Ro-ro
- 0
Estimated cargo loaded and discharged in those 30 days: 0.1 million tonnes.
09-12 0 | 09-13 1 | 09-14 1 | 09-15 0 | 09-16 0 | 09-17 0 | 09-18 1 | 09-19 1 | 09-20 0 | 09-21 0 | 09-22 0 | 09-23 2 | 09-24 0 | 09-25 1 |
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).
Piracy and anti-shipping incidents nearby
4 incidents within 100 km of the port in NGA's Anti-Shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) archive since Nov 11, 1995. NGA stopped updating the archive in 2024. The most recent:
- Pirate AssaultJul 9, 2016Vessel83 km away
MALAYSIA: On 9 July, gunmen kidnapped three Indonesian members of a small boat off Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah, the latest in a string of abductions in a region noted for kidnappings by Islamist militants. It was not immediately clear whether the men were seized by Abu Sayyaf. The boat, with a crew of seven, was in waters off the east coast of Sabah on Borneo island, vicinity 03-30N 117-58E, about 3.6 nautical miles from Kampung Sinakut. It was not immediately clear what type of boat was a
- Pirate AssaultMay 9, 2007Vessel100 km away
MALAYSIA: Vessel boarded and robbed 9 May in the evening, while at 3BSP 4 berth in position 05-01.03N 118-21.13E, Lahad Datu Port. Several stevedores stole the ship's property during discharging operations. The master reported to agents but no action was taken (IMB).
- Pirate AssaultAug 11, 1998Vessel30 km away
TWENTY-TWO PASSENGERS AND CREW OF THE PHILIPPINE-FLAG INTER-ISLAND CARGO SHIP WERE BEING HELD IN NUNUKAN TIMUR, BORNEO. THE PIRATES ARE DEMANDING A RANSOM OF $550,000. PRESIDENT ESTRADA HAS RULED OUT THE PAYMENT OF ANY MONEY AND SAID THE PHILIPPINES WOULD ASK THE MALAYSIAN AUTHORITIES FOR HELP IN RESCUING THE HOSTAGES. THE SHIP HAD EARLIER BEEN FEARED TO HAVE CAPSIZED IN HEAVY SEAS ON 4 APRIL OFF BALUT ISLAND IN SARANGGANI BAY, TWO BODIES WERE RECOVERED.
- Pirate AssaultNov 11, 1995Vessel85 km away
ON 11 NOV 95, A BAND OF FIVE HEAVILY ARMED PIRATES BOARDED THE SINGAPOREAN-FLAGGED CARGO SHIP TROPICAL 88 OFF SEMPORNA (04-29E 118-37E) ALONG THE EAST COAST OF SABAH IN THE CELEBES SEA. BRANDISHING AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, THE PIRATES ROBBED THE CREW OF PERSONAL EFFECTS AND CASH AND STOLE THE SHIP'S GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) EQUIPMENT.
Source: NGA Anti-Shipping Activity Messages. This reproduction, partial or complete, of any National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) or Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) product, information or data is not approved, authorized or endorsed by the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director, NGA or any other element of the US Government. The US Government and NGA accept no liability for the accuracy or quality of this reproduction or the use of any NGA, NIMA or DMA products, information or data. Licence: US Government work — "NGA claims no copyright or other intellectual property right".
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