# Dakar (SN DKR)

**UN/LOCODE:** SN DKR  
**Country:** Senegal  
**Water Body:** North Atlantic Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Medium  
**Harbor Type:** Coastal (Breakwater)  
**GPS:** 14.6833, -17.4333

More than 850,000 TEU crossed Dakar's DP World container terminal in 2025, and the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index ranks SN DKR the most efficient port in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sitting on Senegal's Atlantic headland, the port works containers and reefer, breakbulk, project cargo, dry bulk and petroleum products along a 700-metre main quay. Some USD 340 million invested since DP World took over in 2008 cut average vessel waiting time from 35 hours to near zero, and in March 2026 the terminal lifted its ten-millionth box. Its commercial weight rests on landlocked Mali: cargo runs inland along the Bamako corridor mainly by truck, with the Dakar–Bamako railway under rehabilitation. That corridor is also the current risk — border crossings into Mali showed waiting times beyond ten days in mid-2026, trucking capacity is short and haulage rates have climbed accordingly. Carriers serving Dakar include CMA CGM, Maersk and MSC; from 25 August 2026 CMA CGM adds the port to its new Kora Express linking North Europe, Tanger Med and West Africa on a 42-day rotation. Customs handling is well established for both Senegalese and Malian import and export flows, including reefer and project shipments. The USD 1.2 billion deep-water port of Ndayane, about 50 km south and built by DP World with British International Investment, finished dredging in July 2026 — a 5 km channel at 20 m depth — and its first phase brings an 840 m quay and 1.2 million TEU of capacity by 2028. Alternatives worth pricing are Abidjan for Gulf of Guinea cargo and Nouakchott for Mauritania.

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*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/dakar-port-sn-dkr](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/dakar-port-sn-dkr)*

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