# Assab (ER ASA)

**UN/LOCODE:** ER ASA  
**Country:** Eritrea  
**Water Body:** Red Sea; Indian Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Small  
**Harbor Type:** Coastal (Natural)  
**GPS:** 13.0000, 42.7500

Assab, a port on Eritrea's southern Red Sea coast just 75 kilometres from the Ethiopian border, once served as a key trade gateway for landlocked Ethiopia. Following Eritrean independence in 1993 and the 1998–2000 Eritrean–Ethiopian War, Addis Ababa rerouted around 90 percent of its foreign trade through Djibouti, leaving Assab largely dormant. Since late 2025, the port has regained strategic attention: Egypt and Eritrea signed a deal in December 2025 to upgrade both Assab and Massawa to accommodate Egyptian naval vessels — destroyers, submarines and helicopter carriers. In May 2026, an Egypt–Eritrea maritime transport agreement created a direct shipping route, reducing Eritrea's logistical dependence on third-party infrastructure. The Cairo Summit of June 2026 cemented this strategic partnership. Ethiopia continues to express interest in accessing Assab but no agreement has materialised. No public development master plan or financing architecture has been disclosed for transforming Assab into a major commercial hub, and no scheduled international container service is confirmed. The geopolitical flux and unclear infrastructure trajectory keep Assab's commercial cargo potential limited for the foreseeable future.

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*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/assab-port-er-asa](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/assab-port-er-asa)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/assab-port-er-asa](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/assab-port-er-asa)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/seaports/assab-port-er-asa/llm-summary?lang=en*