Port of Belém

Companhia Docas do Pará (CDP), linked to the federal Ministry of Ports and Airports. CDP administers the organised port of Belém, which groups the Port of Belém with the Miramar and Outeiro terminals.^{1, 2, 3}

cdp.com.br

• Capitania dos Portos da Amazônia Oriental (CPAOR), Brazilian Navy, 4th Naval District.
• Address: Rua Gaspar Viana, 575, Reduto, Belém.
• Its local rules are the NPCP-AOR (1st revision, 2022); the latest consolidated text, amended to 20 March 2026, includes Portaria CPAOR nº 45/2026.
• Some portarias published in the Diário Oficial are not in that text and also apply: nº 33/2025, which replaced the impracticability limits (item 4.18), and nº 72/2026 on anchorages, in force from 9 November 2026.^{3, 4, 5, 6}

• Compulsory. Belém lies in pilotage zone ZP-03 (Belém, Vila do Conde port complex and adjacent areas).
• Under Lei 9.537/1997, art. 13, § 6, as amended by Lei 14.813/2024, pilotage is compulsory in every pilotage zone for ships over 500 GT, except cases set by the Maritime Authority and Brazilian-flag craft classed only for inland navigation.
• The Capitania's rules for Belém (NPCP-AOR, Annex B) make pilotage compulsory for all ships in the Mosqueiro channel, the Tapanã bar, Jararaquinha and Guajará Bay, the final approach to the port.
• At the mouth of the Pará River it is compulsory for all ships on the Espadarte channel; on the Quiriri channel it is optional for drafts up to 12.2 m and compulsory above.
• Ships carrying dangerous cargo take a pilot whatever the channel or draft.
• The Capitania lists the pilot providers for ZP-03: Barra do Pará with six linked pilot companies, the independent company Pará River Pilot and one independent pilot (NPCP-AOR item 4.14.1.2). As of 21 October 2026.^{7, 3, 8}

• Recommended maximum drafts (CMR) are published by CDP, the port authority; the Capitania's rules refer the maximum draft at Belém to CDP.
• CDP regulation (REP v2.1, in force 4 November 2024, item 13.5.1): maximum entry draft 7.00 m (23.0 ft) and maximum exit draft 7.30 m (24.0 ft), both depending on the height of tide at the time, with the Barra do Tapanã on the approach as the controlling point.
• The REP berth table gives a CMR of 7.0 m for berthing and 7.6 m for unberthing at every quay stretch; it cites Capitania rules of 2015 that have since been replaced.
• Ships over 180 m LOA must use the Tutoca channel, with a CMR of 4.0 m plus the height of tide, less the pilot's under-keel allowance (pé de piloto), which varies with the ship's length and DWT (NPCP-AOR Annex B, as amended by Portaria CPAOR nº 45/2026).
• No CMA is published. Datum and water density are not stated in any official source read; the REP calls Belém an essentially river port.
• CDP's live line-up shows 8.00 m and 9.00 m as 'maximum draft' in the berth headers; these are not confirmed as permissible drafts (see Dredged depth).
• Confirm with the pilots and CDP before fixing. As of 21 October 2026.^{1, 3, 4, 9}

• The Capitania refers ship size at Belém to CDP, and its Portaria nº 103/2023 sets manoeuvre conditions for ships of up to 190 m LOA at the Port of Belém: ships between 180 m and 190 m manoeuvre under a temporary authorisation, with morning berthing only and 72 hours' notice to the Capitania.
• CDP's 2024 regulation and its port page give no maximum LOA, beam or DWT for the Belém quay, and the live line-up leaves the LOA field at 0.00 m; an older CDP ship-programme page (last updated in August 2022 and no longer linked from CDP's line-up index) heads berths 101, 102, 103, 105 and 106 with a LOA of 180 m.
• Length rules in the Capitania's annex: ships over 180 m must use the Tutoca channel instead of turning in the basin, with the draft limit given under maximum draft; ships of up to 110 m with draft to spare may berth port side to on the ebb.
• The CDP port page says the mooring dolphin downstream of berth 500 (Ocrim) has a 100 tf bollard designed for ships of up to 40,000 DWT; this is a design case, not a port limit.
• The access channel is between 90 and 180 m wide on average and the turning basin is 500 m by 500 m.
• Confirm ship size with CDP and the pilots. As of 21 October 2026.^{3, 10, 1, 9, 11, 12}

• Semi-diurnal tides, affected by wind and rain, with maximum ranges of the order of 3.7 m and currents of the order of 3.5 knots (Capitania, NPCP-AOR Annex B, Port of Belém).
• DHN tide station: Porto de Belém (10520), chart 320, mean level Z0 180.8 cm; use the DHN tide table (tábua de marés) for this station.
• Typical spring and neap ranges are not published in the sources read.^{3, 13}

• Public quay on the right bank of Guajará Bay in four stretches (REP table): warehouses 4 and 5, 240 m, general cargo; warehouses 6 and 8, 380 m, general cargo; Doca Marechal Hermes, 450 m, river craft; warehouses 11 and 12 and the Ocrim silos, 400 m, containers and solid bulk.
• CDP numbers the berths in hundreds: 100, 200 and 300 for general cargo and containers; 400 and 500 for containers and bulk wheat (Ocrim silos, leased area); 600 for inland craft only.
• Passenger terminal at Warehouse 9, run by CPH.
• The line-up names Cais Público 1 (Belém 4 and 5), Cais Público 2 (Belém 1 and 2) and a passenger berth.
• The organised port also includes the Miramar terminal (liquid bulk, 5 km away) and the Outeiro terminal (about 40 km away).
• The port works 24 hours a day.^{1, 10, 9}

• Customs: Alfândega da Receita Federal in Belém, inside the port, upstairs at CDP Warehouse 9 (entrance by CDP gate 17, Av. Marechal Hermes).
• Health and free pratique: ANVISA, through its Pará coordination (CVPAF-PA) at Belém International Airport; by August 2023 ANVISA had closed its fixed office at the port, and inspections are dispatched from the coordination.
• Quarantine: anchorage No. 4 until 8 November 2026; from 9 November 2026, only the outer anchorage A-2 (chart 302), entered on the Capitania's designation (Portaria CPAOR nº 72/2026).
• Immigration and crew changes: Polícia Federal, Superintendência Regional no Pará, migration desk (DELEMIG), which lists a Porto de Belém line.
• Agriculture: VIGIAGRO (MAPA).
• Ships from abroad may be visited at anchor, in the channel or alongside; CDP confirms berthing after the authorities' consent in Porto Sem Papel and registration of the DUV.^{14, 15, 16, 17, 1, 6}

• Belém International Airport, Val-de-Cans / Júlio Cezar Ribeiro (IATA BEL, ICAO SBBE), run by NOA, concessionaire SPE Novo Norte Aeroportos S.A. since 5 May 2023.
• International aerodrome with national and international connections.
• About 7.8 km by road to the port gate on Av. Marechal Hermes, about 9 minutes in free-flowing traffic (approximate route on OpenStreetMap data; allow more in city traffic).^{18, 19, 20, 21, 22}

• Access by the Oriental channel: average width between 90 and 180 m, 6,000 m long and 9.00 m deep when dredged; CDP gives 5.10 m (16.7 ft) in the access channel at low water springs.
• The Barra do Tapanã, which limits the draft, has 7.92 m at high water; for low water CDP gives 5.00 m in the Belém section of its regulation and 6.0 m in the Miramar section.
• Turning basin 500 m by 500 m off the Ver-o-Peso dock.
• Berth depths (REP table, subject to hydrographic change): between 7.1 and 8.0 m at warehouses 4 and 5, 8.0 m at warehouses 6 and 8, 4.8 m at Doca Marechal Hermes, 9.0 m at warehouses 11 and 12 and the Ocrim silos.
• The Capitania names the Tutoca channel, bounded to the north by Banco do Meio, for ships over 180 m.
• Datum not stated. As of REP v2.1 (4 November 2024).^{1, 3}

• Set by the Capitania. From 9 November 2026 the anchorages are those of Portaria CPAOR nº 72/2026; until then the NPCP-AOR (Annex B) layout applies, with No. 4 as the quarantine area.
• Chart 320, off Belém: B-1 (former No. 1, Miramar 2) for ships under repair, maintenance or awaiting berth; B-2 for merchant ships authorised by the Maritime Authority; B-3A (Miramar 1), B-3B (Minas Gerais) and B-4 (the former quarantine area No. 4) for ships awaiting berth.
• B-3B corners 01°26.10'S 048°31.70'W, 01°26.10'S 048°31.40'W, 01°27.00'S 048°31.50'W, 01°27.00'S 048°31.80'W; B-4 corners 01°25.00'S 048°31.40'W, 01°25.00'S 048°31.20'W, 01°25.85'S 048°31.30'W, 01°25.85'S 048°31.50'W.
• Chart 304: M-1 off Mosqueiro for health, customs and maritime police inspection and for ships awaiting berth; O-1 (the former Icoaraci area) for tankers and LPG carriers awaiting the Miramar terminal; a single anchoring point, 01°21.03'S 048°29.07'W, for tankers gas-freeing.
• A ship may stay at most 20 consecutive days in the inner anchorages (moving between them does not restart the count), then must spend at least 24 hours under way at sea outside the mouth of the Pará River or at the outer anchorage A-1 (chart 302).
• Ships in quarantine go only to the outer anchorage A-2 (chart 302; 00°22.10'S 047°29.10'W, 00°24.75'S 047°28.90'W, 00°23.10'S 047°26.20'W) when the Capitania designates it; the inner quarantine areas are closed.
• Maximum drafts from NPCP-AOR Annex B: 7.92 m at Miramar 2 (B-1), Minas Gerais (B-3B) and No. 4 (B-4), 7.40 m at Miramar 1 (B-3A) and 12.6 m at Icoaraci (O-1); the 2026 portaria gives no drafts. As of 21 October 2026.^{3, 1, 6}

• Under the Capitania's Portaria nº 103/2023 (16 September 2023, still listed on its page), ships berth starboard side to, on the flood and with wind of up to 10 knots, in daylight; ships between 180 m and 190 m, under a temporary authorisation, berth only in the morning and need 72 hours' notice to the Capitania.
• Unberthing may be at any hour, also on the flood and with wind of up to 10 knots.
• The NPCP-AOR annex for Belém, whose manoeuvre rules were rewritten in January 2026 (Portaria nº 45/2026), sets no time-of-day restriction for berthing or unberthing, but the tide must be observed. The two texts differ on berthing hours and on port-side berthing on the ebb, which the annex allows ships of up to 110 m, so confirm the rule for each call with the pilots.
• CDP works ships 24 hours a day.
• Speed limits: 8 knots between Icoaraci and the Port of Belém, 6 knots in the port's access channel, 5 knots in the Madre de Deus, Piramanha/Nazário and Cavado channels across Ilha das Onças.
• Ships go in through the access channel on the flood, turn in the turning basin and berth starboard side to; ships of up to 110 m with draft to spare may berth port side to on the ebb.
• Ships over 180 m must use the Tutoca channel instead of turning in the basin (see maximum draft).
• Launches with VHF are compulsory for running the mooring lines.
• Depths along the berths are not uniform and can change quickly with siltation, so check current depths with CDP; CDP is not obliged to berth a ship when the depth in the access channel or at the berth does not suit her draft. As of 21 October 2026 (NPCP-AOR consolidated 20 March 2026; REP v2.1 of 4 November 2024).^{3, 4, 1, 12}

• Set by the Capitania (NPCP-AOR Annex Y, added by Portaria CPAOR nº 45/2026).
• For berthing and unberthing at the Port of Belém the table lists 2 tugs with 70 t total bollard pull for ships between 170 m and 190 m LOA, and 1 tug with 45 t for ships of up to 70 m LOA; it gives no figure for other lengths.
• Portaria nº 103/2023 requires at least one tug for ships of up to 170 m and two tugs for ships between 170 m and 190 m, so confirm with the pilots.
• CDP names Wilson Sons as the tug provider at Belém, booked at least 3 hours ahead (REP v2.1, 4 November 2024). As of 21 October 2026.^{3, 4, 1, 12}

• Pilots board at the pilot waiting points at the seaward limit of ZP-03: downstream of the outer end of Banco do Xingu and Cabeço do Norte, and downstream of Baixo Espadarte (Praticagem do Brasil).
• The Navy's rules give the positions: 00°17'00"S 047°49'00"W for ships coming from the north and west, and 00°24'30"S 047°46'00"W for ships coming from the east, mainly from Brazilian ports.
• Ships that come up the optional Quiriri stretch without a pilot take one off Mosqueiro Island, at 01°06'00"S 048°29'30"W, with Ponta do Chapéu Virado light bearing 146° true at 2.5 miles (NORMAM-311 Annex 4-B; NPCP-AOR item 4.14.1.2).
• The ship's agent or owner orders the pilot by e-mail: at least 24 hours ahead for the inbound passage to Belém via Salinópolis or Espadarte; 12 hours ahead for outbound passages leaving Belém for Salinópolis, Espadarte or Mosqueiro, confirmed up to 2 hours before; 6 hours ahead for movements of up to one hour, confirmed up to 2 hours before for ships berthed at Belém (NPCP-AOR item 4.15.3). As of 21 October 2026.^{8, 3, 23}

• Wind: in the Capitania's annex for Belém, right after the rule on port-side berthing on the ebb, afternoon manoeuvres are restricted when the wind is over 20 knots, and Portaria CPAOR nº 103/2023 limits berthing and unberthing at the Port of Belém to wind of up to 10 knots; confirm how these apply with the pilots.
• Afternoon winds usually freshen to gusts of force 4 to 5, mainly September to December, and equatorial downpours, which may be preceded by strong winds, cause a sharp drop in visibility.
• The Capitania may declare the pilotage zone impracticable, totally or only for some places, ships or manoeuvres; the declaration also binds ships exempt from pilotage (Portaria CPAOR nº 33/2025, which replaced NPCP-AOR item 4.18).
• For the Belém area it declares total impracticability when the wind reaches 33 knots, the waves (Hs) reach 2.0 m or visibility falls below 500 m, any one of these being enough.
• In the amber band, with wind between 22 and 33 knots, waves between 1.5 and 2.0 m or visibility between 500 and 1,000 m, it may declare partial impracticability, weighing the three together. As of 21 October 2026.^{3, 4, 5, 12}

• Bunkering alongside is by barge, with CDP authorisation requested in its system, a guarantee payment and, when needed, Receita Federal consent; supply by road is forbidden, and bunkering at anchor needs a supplier licensed for offshore supply.
• Fresh water: each quay stretch has 4 or 6 outlets of 64 mm, 25 m³/h each.
• Waste: only contractors authorised by ANVISA and accredited by CDP may collect ship waste; liquid waste may not be taken off by a craft alongside. As of REP v2.1 (4 November 2024).¹

CDP publishes the live line-up of the Port of Belém.^{9, 24}

CDP line-up: Port of Belém

• 144,426 t at the Belém quay in 2024 (151,589 t in 2023): solid bulk 120,090 t, general cargo 20,514 t, liquid bulk 3,820 t, no containers.
• In the same organised port, the Miramar terminal handled 2,003,289 t, almost all liquid bulk, and the Outeiro terminal 1,734,489 t.²⁵