Port of Freetown

🇸🇱 Sierra Leone

South Atlantic · General Cargo Port

UN/LOCODE
SLFNA
Country
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
Port Type
General Cargo Port
Ocean Region
South Atlantic
Latitude
8.4800° N
Longitude
13.2300° W

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Joint War Committee listing

Not listed

Freetown is not inside any Joint War Committee listed area (circular JWLA-035, 16 September 2026).

Source: Joint War Committee circular JWLA-035, 16 September 2026 (LMA/IUA), JWC Listed Areas for hull war, piracy, terrorism and related perils.

Regional Risk Context — South Atlantic

Freetown in Sierra Leone connects the major commodity exporters of West Africa and South America with global markets, carrying crude oil, iron ore, soybeans, coal, and containerised goods. The Gulf of Guinea has surpassed the Gulf of Aden as the world's most active piracy zone, accounting for the majority of global incidents and the vast majority of crew kidnappings. Unlike Somali piracy's hijacking-for-ransom model, Gulf of Guinea attacks typically aim at kidnap-for-ransom, cargo theft, and oil theft from tankers. The diversion of container traffic around the Cape of Good Hope due to Red Sea security threats has increased congestion at South Atlantic bunkering ports and along the South African coast.

Read the full South Atlantic risk briefing →

Sea Distances

Routed sea distances from Freetown to the principal global hubs, computed by ArcNautical's routing engine — around land and through the canals a ship actually uses, not great-circle.

Port State Control Context

Freetown falls under the Abuja MoU. The Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (West & Central Africa) publishes PSC detention data via OpenSanctions. Across the last 24 months, the Abuja MoU detention dataset records 210 distinct vessel detentions (as of 2026-10-04). Vessel-level detention probability is computed by ArcNautical using flag performance, vessel age, deficiency history, and ownership opacity.

Vessel Mix

No port calls were observed at Freetown between 29 Apr 2026 and 5 Aug 2026. This reflects the reach of the terrestrial AIS network behind this page — coverage is densest in Northwest Europe and thins elsewhere — and is not a statement about traffic at Freetown. The feed has delivered no positions since 5 Aug 2026, so these figures will not change until it resumes.

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Nearby Ports

🇬🇳 Conakry
Guinea · Multi-Purpose Port · ~68 nm
🇱🇷 Monrovia
Liberia · General Cargo Port · ~194 nm
🇬🇲 Banjul
Gambia · General Cargo Port · ~358 nm
🇸🇳 Dakar
Senegal · Container Terminal · ~448 nm
🇨🇮 San Pedro
Ivory Coast · Multi-Purpose Port · ~452 nm
🇨🇮 Abidjan
Ivory Coast · Container Terminal · ~582 nm
🇲🇷 Nouakchott
Mauritania · General Cargo Port · ~598 nm
🇬🇭 Takoradi
Ghana · Multi-Purpose Port · ~717 nm