Karachi port and ships, live

The Index rates Karachi a medium-sized natural harbour on the coast. It lists container berths, ramps for roll-on, roll-off ships, dry bulk berths, liquid bulk berths, general cargo berths and a dry dock there. It takes ships up to 400 m long, through a channel at least 12.2 m deep. A vessel traffic service watches the approaches.

• Karachi9 km from the centreMedium-sized harbour

In 24 hours of AIS recorded Oct 12 – 19, the map heard no ship within 10 km of Karachi: the receivers TAKIP draws on don’t reach here, so its ships won’t show.

• NGA’s World Port Index rates a harbour by its area, facilities and wharf space when it was last surveyed, not by its traffic, so a busy terminal can be rated small. Where it doesn’t know about a facility it says so, and only what it marks as there is listed here.
• AIS is heard by receivers on shore, so coverage follows where they are: ships far out at sea, or off coasts without one, don’t show. Warships and some others switch it off, and a ship’s type and destination are typed in by its crew.
• Harbours from NGA’s World Port Index (Pub. 150), downloaded on Oct 19, 2026. The major ports and chokepoints are the map’s own reference list.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Live ship tracker, Shipping chokepoints