Port of Fortaleza

Companhia Docas do Ceará (CDC), a federal public company under the Ministry of Ports and Airports.^{1, 2}

docasdoceara.com.br

• Capitania dos Portos do Ceará (CPCE), Brazilian Navy, Fortaleza.
• Local rules: NPCP-CE, 3rd revision (2025 edition), approved by Portaria nº 84/CPCE of 9 December 2025 and amended by Portaria nº 22/CPCE of 9 June 2026 (Modification 01, in force since 12 June 2026).^{1, 3}

• Pilotage zone ZP-05 (Fortaleza and Pecém): compulsory for the whole passage between the pilot waiting position and the berth.
• Every ship over 2,000 GT, of any flag, must take a pilot unless NORMAM-311/DPC exempts it, for example certain offshore support vessels, dredgers and small tankers that meet the conditions of item 4.4.3, or a Brazilian-flag ship of up to 100 m LOA whose master holds a pilotage exemption certificate for that port (item 2.44).
• Brazilian-flag vessels up to 2,000 GT are exempt; foreign-flag vessels up to 2,000 GT take a pilot unless they meet the exemption terms of NORMAM-311/DPC item 4.4.3 (item 4.5 sets separate terms for Peruvian and Colombian-flag vessels).
• A convoy whose combined gross tonnage, counting the pushing or towing vessel, exceeds 2,000 GT must take a pilot.
• One pilot for normal manoeuvres; special manoeuvres may need a second pilot.
• Provider: Ceará Marine Pilots (Empresa de Praticagem do Estado do Ceará Ltda), VHF channel 16.^{3, 4}

• Maximum recommended draft (CMR), Port of Fortaleza, per berth, as of 12 June 2026 (NPCP-CE of 9 December 2025, as amended by Portaria nº 22/CPCE of 9 June 2026): berth 103 (grain or liquid bulk) 10.30 m; berths 104, 105 and 106 (solid bulk, liquid bulk, break bulk, container or passenger ships) 11.0 m; oil pier berths 201 and 202 (petroleum product tankers) 10.40 m; berth 102 5.0 m; berth 101 is closed to commercial ships.
• No tide window is needed up to 8.5 m at berth 103 or up to 9.0 m at berths 104, 105, 106, 201 and 202.
• Deeper ships need a tide height, throughout the manoeuvre, at least equal to the ship's maximum draft minus 8.5 m (berth 103) or minus 9.0 m (berths 104, 105, 106, 201 and 202).
• At berths 104, 105 and 106, solid bulk, break bulk, container and passenger ships with drafts between 10.5 m and 11.0 m manoeuvre in daylight only and use the access channel, to berth or unberth, only on a rising tide.
• Minimum under-keel clearance alongside: 0.5 m at berths 104, 105, 201 and 202; 1.0 m at berths 102, 103 and 106.
• The NPCP-CE gives no separate channel figure and does not state the tide datum; DHN publishes the tide predictions for Porto de Mucuripe.^{3, 1, 5}

• Maximum ship size by berth (DWT / LOA / beam), as of 12 June 2026 (NPCP-CE item 5.4 a): 102: 50,000 t / 232 m / 30 m; 103: 50,000 t / 232 m / 33 m; 104: 60,000 t / 232 m / 33 m; 105: 60,000 t / 232 m / 33 m; 106 (passenger terminal): 50,000 t / 232 m / 33 m; 201: 50,000 t / 222 m / 33 m; 202: 60,000 t / 222 m / 33 m.
• The berth is the one alongside the larger part of the ship.
• Calls outside these limits need a specific, temporary Capitania portaria, issued after a meeting of the port authority, pilots and Capitania (NPCP-CE chapter 5 a).¹

NPCP-CE sets no air draft limit for the Port of Fortaleza. Its only air draft limit in Ceará is 5 m at the bridge over the Rio Ceará between Fortaleza and Caucaia, away from the port.¹

• Semidiurnal: two high and two low waters a day.
• DHN reference station Porto de Mucuripe, Fortaleza (03°42.9'S 038°28.6'W, chart 701), mean level 1.55 m.
• In the DHN 2026 predictions spring ranges are about 2.7 m (up to about 3.0 m) and neap ranges about 1.2 m (down to about 0.7 m); predicted heights lie between -0.05 m and 3.10 m.⁵

• Commercial quay with six berths (101 to 106) and an oil pier with two berths (201, 202) on a 90 m platform reached by an 853 m trestle.
• Berth 101 is for small craft only; berth 106 is the passenger terminal quay (350 m), leased to TERMAP.
• Containers: CMA Terminals under a transitional lease (area MUC 04).
• Wheat: Tergran ship unloader.
• Main cargo in 2024: liquid bulk 50.99% of tonnage (gasoline, diesel, crude oil, LPG), then agricultural and mineral solid bulk, containers and general cargo.^{6, 1, 7, 8}

• Customs: Alfândega da Receita Federal em Fortaleza (ALF - Fortaleza), Av. Vicente de Castro 6971, Cais do Porto.
• Health: ANVISA, through its Ceará ports and airports unit (CVPAF-CE), grants free pratique, which the agent can request by radio or message up to 24 hours before arrival; ships placed in quarantine use anchorages No. 1 and No. 2 (chart DHN 701).
• Immigration and crew: Polícia Federal, which boards on arrival with port health and customs.
• Agriculture: MAPA VIGIAGRO, Serviço de Vigilância Agropecuária Internacional de Fortaleza (SEV-FOR).^{9, 1, 10, 11}

• Pinto Martins International Airport, Fortaleza (ICAO SBFZ), an international aerodrome (AD INTL) operated by Fraport Brasil.
• About 13 km by road from the port, roughly 20 minutes without traffic (approximate route on OpenStreetMap data).^{12, 13, 14}

• Access channel (Norte-Sul) about 3,500 m long with an average depth of 14 m (CDC).
• In April 2026 CDC reported that the channel had been widened after a Class A survey, that a new Oeste-Leste channel of more than 12 m depth had been identified, and that it had sent a revised buoyage project to the Navy.
• Turning basin 610 m wide, depth between 13.5 m and 14 m, sheltered by a 1,910 m breakwater (NPCP-CE 2025).
• These are depths, not permitted drafts.^{2, 1, 15}

• Seven designated anchorages (NPCP-CE 5.5).
• No. 1: ships over 7 m draft, 0.3 NM radius centred 03°41.74'S 038°30.31'W.
• No. 2: ships over 2,000 GT with draft up to 7 m, 0.3 NM radius centred 03°42.13'S 038°29.78'W.
• No. 3: vessels of 200 to 2,000 GT, 0.2 NM radius centred 03°42.47'S 038°29.41'W.
• No. 7: ships over 9 m draft, circle of 0.5 NM diameter centred 03°39.20'S 038°25.00'W.
• Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are for harbour craft and fishing boats.
• Quarantine and explosives work use anchorages No. 1 and No. 2.
• Anchoring is prohibited in the access channel and manoeuvring basin of the Port of Fortaleza except during emergency manoeuvres (NPCP-CE 5.5 b, as amended by Portaria nº 22/CPCE of 9 Jun 2026).^{1, 3}

• As of 12 June 2026 (NPCP-CE of 9 December 2025, as amended by Portaria nº 22/CPCE of 9 June 2026), the port works 24 hours a day, every day.
• Maximum speed 10 knots in the channel and turning basin; no crossing or overtaking there.
• At berths 104, 105 and 106, solid bulk, break bulk, container and passenger ships with drafts between 10.5 m and 11.0 m manoeuvre in daylight only and use the access channel only on a rising tide.
• Ships with structural or machinery damage or restricted manoeuvrability need prior Capitania authorization to come within 12 NM or enter the channel.
• Bulk and combination carriers aged 18 years or more loading solid bulk of 1.78 t/m³ or more must present a condition survey declaration.^{3, 1}

• Tugs are compulsory for every berthing and unberthing; the master decides how many and how to use them, preferably after hearing the pilot.
• All tugs must be azimuth type with a towing winch.
• Recommended number and total bollard pull by ship type and DWT are in NPCP-CE Annex 4-H (for example, a bulk carrier or general cargo ship between 40,001 and 60,000 DWT without bow thruster: 2 or 3 tugs, 92 t bollard pull to berth).
• At the oil pier at least one twin-shaft mooring launch is required; two are required for tankers with steel mooring wires, for tankers between 40,001 and 50,000 DWT at berth 201 and for tankers between 40,001 and 60,000 DWT at berth 202.¹

• Pilot boarding points: inner point for ships with draft under 9 m, 03°41.7'S 038°29.9'W; outer point for ships with draft of 9 m or more, 03°39.542'S 038°29.229'W (also the Fortaleza point in the national list, NORMAM-311/DPC Annex 4-B).
• While waiting, ships fly the 'I require a pilot' and draft signals.
• Berthing manoeuvres are requested from CDC (CODGEP) through Porto Sem Papel at least 48 hours before the intended berthing time.^{3, 4, 16}

• Wind limit 22 knots for general cargo, container and bulk ships with draft of 10.60 m or more and for tankers with draft over 10.30 m; limits may be reduced when north-westerly or northerly swell and wind prevail.
• The Capitania closes the port to pilotage at significant wave height of 1.5 m or more, sustained wind (15 minutes) of 30 knots or more, or visibility of 0.5 NM or less.
• VHF channels 10 and 13 are reserved for ships and pilots during manoeuvres.¹

• Fresh water, power and communications can be supplied to ships at berth as port services.
• Ship waste is collected by companies accredited by CDC, which must report collection times within 48 hours of the arrival notice.
• Bunker supply was not confirmed in an official source.¹⁶

4,943,073 t in 2024, up 8.85% on 2023: liquid bulk 2,520,714 t, solid bulk 1,702,822 t, general cargo 719,537 t.⁶