# Douala (CM DLA)

**UN/LOCODE:** CM DLA  
**Country:** Cameroon  
**Water Body:** Gulf of Guinea; North Atlantic Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Medium  
**Harbor Type:** River (Natural)  
**GPS:** 4.0500, 9.6833

A fourth berth is going up at Douala/Bonabéri, Cameroon's principal seaport, where the state-run Régie du Terminal à Conteneurs (RTC) handled around 380,000 TEU in 2024. Set on the Wouri estuary off the Gulf of Guinea, the port carries an estimated 75 to 85 per cent of national sea freight — roughly 12.92 million tonnes in 2024 — while Cameroon's ports together moved about 23.7 million tonnes in 2025, up 3 per cent. Containers and reefer, breakbulk, dry bulk and vehicles all cross the quays; RTC took over terminal operations on 1 January 2020 after fifteen years of multinational concession. Transit for landlocked Chad and the Central African Republic along the N'Djamena and Bangui corridors is the port's strategic asset, and that transit passed 500,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026, with early volumes now also routing towards Niger. River access is the standing constraint: a shallow channel requiring continuous dredging caps vessel size and draught. Inland movement runs by road and rail, and customs procedures for Cameroonian import, export and CEMAC transit are well established. The terminal extension launched in July 2025 adds a 250-metre quay (quai 17), 7.9 hectares of yard and 1,200 metres of RTG runways, due in service in 2027 and lifting capacity from 380,000 to about 796,000 TEU, with RTC aiming at one million boxes by 2030. Shippers needing greater draught use Cameroon's deep-water port at Kribi; regionally, Abidjan and Lomé are the usual alternatives.

---

*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/douala-port-cm-dla](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/douala-port-cm-dla)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/douala-port-cm-dla](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/douala-port-cm-dla)*

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