List of Sea Ports in Madagascar [2023

Madagascar has several sea ports across the nation.  We give you an insight into the status of the port sector there. Madagascar, a country in East Africa has a network of 17 ports along a coastline of 5000 kilometers. However, only five of them come with the adequate port facilities of wharves, drafts, handlers, land, and shops that may allow goods to be loaded and unloaded at the docks. Toamasina is the major port of Madagascar handling 75% of the freight that passes through the nation. The five ports that offer adequate docking facilities offer customs and freight import facilities too.

The other 12 ports allow only limited access to small traditional vessels that provide regional services and other vessels which need only a moderate draft along with limited facilities. The national agency in charge of port maintenance is the Agence Portuaire Maritime et Fluviale (APMF) created in the year 2003 through a ministerial decree.

A public institution, the APMF is under the Ministry of Finance’s budget trusteeship and the Ministry of Transport’s technical trusteeship. Implementing the national policy meant for ports and river and sea navigation is the mission that the APMF has been entrusted with.

Madagascar is on the road to post Covid-19 pandemic recovery. It is projected that the real GDP growth will stand at 5.1% in the year 2021. One of the major factors that shall drive this growth shall be higher investments in infrastructure including ports. There are efforts to have a more open market pan Africa brought about by regional integration. The ports in Madagascar, it is expected shall emerge as major trade hubs if the regional integration bears fruit.

Of late there have been plans to restructure the network of ports in Madagascar. It has been decided that large-scale privatization shall be the way forward. This is expected to raise the efficiency levels of the ports dramatically. The expensive and inefficient port operation should be removed. New strategies and operating techniques are being planned.

There’s talk of diversifying port operations and also encouraging competition. Diversification shall attract private investors which shall see increased funding for port modernization. The government plans to raise revenues by the sale of public assets which are to be diverted to port modernization. The port labor structure is to be streamlined to raise productivity and end industrial strife. Transfer of technology and know-how is a strategy that shall be adopted after forging partnerships with other ports that are using the latest technologies and equipment.

List of Sea Ports in Madagascar

The government in Madagascar is therefore strongly committed to modernizing the ports there. Having discussed what the future holds for Madagascar’s port sector, we now give you a list of Madagascar’s seaports.

Andoany

The Andoany port on the Nosy be Island is a small commercial port with only limited facilities. It basically caters to the fishing industry and is involved in coastal cargo and offers ferry services. Handling around 60 vessels every year, the main exports from the port are sugar, coffee, and vanilla while the imports are petroleum products.

Port of Andoany
Address: Andoany, Madagascar

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Container
• Liquid
• Dry Bulk
• Passenger

Nearby Ports:

• Nosy-Be: 3.1 km
• Antisranana: 2.2 km
• Iharana: 1 km
• Mahajanga: 5 km
• Dzaoudzi: 5.1 km

Antalaha

This port is located on the northeastern coast of Madagascar at a distance of 400kms from the port of Toamasina. Antalaha is a small commercial port that acts as an anchorage point for vessels in the exposed roadstead. Cargo is worked into lighters here at this port.

Port of Antalaha
Address: Antalaha
Madagascar

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk

Diego Suarez

The port of Diego Suarez is in the northern part of Madagascar. It’s a large natural harbor where the commercial port has a main quay and anchorage used for lightering. The naval port comes with a drydock too. It handles around 134,000t of hydrocarbon and 187,000t of dry goods annually.

Port of Diego Suarez
Address: Diego Suarez
Madagascar

Available Facilities

• Break
• Bulk
• Container
• Liquid Dry
• Bulk Dry
• DockRo-Ro

Majunga

Situated in the Bombetoka Bay on the north-western coast of Madagascar, Majunga is a commercial port. It handles transshipment cargoes sailing into the trading post along the western coast of Madagascar. The primary cargo handle here consists of rice, salt, and containers. The port sees around 85 vessels dock there annually.

Port of Majunga
Address: BP 36 Maritime District of Majunga
Majunga, Madagascar
Phone: 261 4 22148
Water location: Mozambique Channe

Available Facilities

• Break
• Bulk
• Container
• Liquid
• LPG

Nearby Ports:

• Nosy-Be: 334.2 km
• Andoany: 336.2 km
• Dzaoudzi: 346.8 km
• Mamoudzu: 348.2 km
• Longoni: 356.7 km

Manakara

Manakara is a small commercial port at the mouth of the Manakara River. Vessels dock here only to load and discharge. The port offers a decent warehousing capacity with a total space of 4,700sqm. Three of the warehouses are in somewhat good condition. The port has had beaching operations carried out there. With limited depth, the port is suitable only for landing crafts and barge operations.

Port of Manakara
Address: Manakara, Near- Manakara River
Madagascar
Water Location: Indian Ocean

Management Contact Person: Batista Rakotoarindriana
Contact number:  (+261321125754)
Closest Airport and Frequent Airlines: Aerodrome d’Ambokala  (2 km)

Storage Type:

• General Cargo: 4,700

Mananjary

Located on the south of Toamasina, Mananjary is on Madagascar’s eastern coast. Dealing with only coastal traffic, the port is visited by only around 10 ships on an annual basis. Like the Mankara port, this port is a small commercial one meant for vessels to anchor for loading and discharging. The port has decent connectivity with a small airport in the same city.

Port of Mananjary
Port Authority:   Mananjary Port Authority
Address: Societe dExploitation
Mananjary
Madagascar
Phone: 261 4 22387

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Liquid

Morondava

Situated on the banks of a tributary of the Morondava River, the port is along Madagascar’s western coast. It’s a small commercial port that has a roadstead anchorage meant for vessels sailing into the ocean. There are quays too for small coasters. The port handles around four vessels annually. As the port falls dry during low tide, vessels can arrive and depart only at high tide.

Port of Morondava
Address: Subdiv des Ponts et Chassees Morondava
Madagascar
Management Contact Person: (Directeur Régional APMF)- Mr Franclair BOTOU
Contact Number: 0321125738 / 0340302206
Email id: botoufranclair@yahoo.fr
Nearest Airport and Airlines: Morondava Airport

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Liquid

Storage Type

• Bagged and general Cargo: 5 warehouses – 1280m

Port Saint Louis

On Madagascar’s northwestern coast, the Port Saint Louis is at the mouth of the Manondro River. The port is a small one meant almost entirely for the handling of sugar shipments. There’s an open roadstead on the mouth of the river and the port also has a small quay offering modest port facilities. The port can handle around ten vessels annually.

Port Authority:   Port Saint Louis Port Authority
Address: BP 84
Ambilobe
Madagascar

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Passenger

Water location: Mozambique Channel

Toamasina

The port of Toamasina is at a distance of 180nm from the northern end of Madagascar’s eastern coast. This is one of the major ports of Madagascar consisting of 3 moles offering safe anchorage between the months of April and November. The harbor happens to be a large one and is sheltered well. Though the port has two entrance channels, only the one in the north is being used.

Port Authority:   Port Autonome de Toamasina
Address: Soc d Exploitation du Port
Toamasina
Madagascar
Phone Number: 261 5 32155
Fax Number: 261 5 33558
Email id: ranaivojaona.samuel@port-toamasina.com
Management Contact Person: Capitaine de port: Mr. Jami INJONA
Phone: 0342315985
Fax: 5333558
Email: capitainerie@port-toamasina.com
Nearest Airport and Airlines: Air Madagascar, Antanarivo, Ste Marie, Antalaha, La Réunion

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Container
• Liquid
• Dry Bulk
• Passenger
• Ro-Ro

Tolagnaro

Situated along the southeastern coast of Madagascar, the port of Tolagnaro has a small harbor with a large natural bay offering safe anchorage for vessels headed for the ocean where cargo is worked into lighters. The port handles around 11 vessels annually with the main cargoes handled being rice, maize, and sisal. Around 2,000t of maize, 2,500t of rice, and 10,000t of sisal are handled here every year.

Port Authority:   Tolagnaro Port Authority
Address: BP 262
Tolagnaro
Madagascar
Phone Number: 261 9 21310
Management Contact Person– Port Officer: Rakotomalala Maminiaina
Contact Number: 034 65 053 22
Email: M.Rakotomalala@ehoalaport.com
Nearest Airport and Airlines: Tolagnaro Airport, 1Km, Air Madagascar: Antananarivo, Toliara

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Liquid

Tulear

The port of Tulear is on the southwestern coast of Madagascar. The seaport is a hub of import and export. The main items exported are timber, maize, and cassava while the main import is cement. The main quay is suitable for berthing vessels and tankers. It’s also suitable for loading from lighters that have anchored at the port. The port handles around 75,000t of cargo and 5,700t of containers annually.

Port of Tulear (Toliara)
Address: Tulear
Madagascar
Phone: +261 32 74 722 81
Management Contact Person: APMF Regional Director – RAKOTOZAFIARIMAMY
Contact Number: 032 11 257 80
Email: ronsarda@yahoo.fr
Nearest Airport and Airlines: Toliara Airport(3.1 Km)

Available Facilities

• Break Bulk
• Container
• Liquid
• Dry Bulk

Nearby Ports:

• EHOLA: 8 km
• Toamasina: 1 km
• Mahajanga: 2 km
• Chinde: 1 km
• Porto Belo: 926 km

Storage Type:

• Bagged Cargo & General Cargo: 4 (sous-douanes)

Conclusion

Our article apart from listing the seaports in Madagascar also gives the readers an insight into how things stand in the port sector there. It outlines how the authorities in Madagascar plan to help the sector grow through modernization with privatization being a major strategy. We have included major details of each port which makes the article informative. We hope that you find it useful for reference.