Port Overview

The Port of Pohnpei is located on the island of Pohnpei. Pohnpei is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia and the National government is established in Palikir, Sokehs. The Port is operated by the Pohnpei Ports Authority and along with all other ports in FSM is overseen by the Department of Transportation Communication and Infrastructure. The port predominantly facilitates the import of goods for domestic use which is almost exclusively containerized freight. 

The port is broken into four separate areas: International, Fishing, Domestic and Marine Surveillance. 

The main dock encompasses the international and fishing dock with the domestic and marine surveillance dock adjacent to the main dock area. 

Port website: http://www.ppa.fm  

Key port information can also be found at: http://www.maritime-database.com 

Port Picture

• International and Domestics Docks
• Fishing Boat Dock
• Warehouses
• Container Storage
• Stevedores
• Marine Surveillance Head Quarters
• Patrol Boats
• Pohnpei International Airport

Main dock

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

The Pohnpei Port Authority in addition to overall responsibility for all ports, airports and airfields throughout Pohnpei State handles the port terminal services. Stevedoring Services are provided by Federated Shipping Company (FSCO) a private company that undertakes all freight movements at the port as well as handling warehousing and storage of goods, piloting services and the delivery of containers and goods to site. 

For more information on port contacts, please see the following link: 4.4 Micronesia Port and Waterways Companies Contact List.

Port Performance

The port handles approximately 3-5 cargo vessels per month almost exclusively container freight with Matson and Kyowa line providing scheduled services to Pohnpei. The port also receives bulk fuel vessels 2-3 times per month. The port handles approximately 80 containers of freight per month. The dock is situated inside a lagoon on the Northern side of Pohnpei.

The international dock is physically adjacent to the fishing and domestic dock, separated by a security fence.

Containers must all be unloaded by vessel gantry crane as no dockside container cranes or equipment are available at the dock. There is a 50MT mobile crane in the container storage area. Containers can generally be unloaded at 4-6 per hour.

The international port is not congested but the limited amount of handling equipment available could leave the port vulnerable in times of high need. The port handling equipment is in good condition. Adjacent to the international dock, at the southern end, is the fishing dock where tuna fishing vessels berth  

Tuna fishing is the major export from FSM. In Pohnpei, transhipment is conducted at the anchorage area. After transhipment, fishing vessels proceed to the dock for provisioning, bunkering, maintenance and net repairs. At times fishing vessels berth 3 abreast causing congestion.  All tuna fishing activities are privately operated.

The domestic dock lays south of the fishing dock and is the home base of the two FSM government owned freight and passenger vessels: the MV Caroline Voyager and the MV Micronesian Navigators. When both vessels are in port, due to space constraints, they are required berth side by side. 

Discharge Rates and Terminal Handling Charges

For information on port rates and charges, please see the following table: 

Berthing Specifications

General Cargo Handling Berths

Port Handling Equipment

The port equipment is owned and operated by Federated Shipping Company Ltd (FSCO) - a privately owned operator. The handling equipment is in good working condition with top loaders and large forklifts available.

Smaller forklifts are used for movement of palletized freight and are in good working condition. One mobile crane (50MT) has just been purchased and also available.

The top loaders move all containers from dockside to storage and load all tractor trailers for delivery. Consignees can also unload containers in the storage area in lieu of delivery 

There are no tugmasters, and all containers are stacked and loaded directly on the container chassis by top loader. Containers chassis for 20 footers and 40 containers are available

FSCO maintains three prime movers/tractor for container delivery.  

50 mt crane

Reach stacker

Container Facilities

While almost all freight moving through the port is in containers the port has no dedicated container facility and operates as a general port.

Customs Guidance

As with all states in the FSM Customs is nationally controlled and regulated through the Department of Finance and Tax Administration. DFTA Customs officers are based in each state capital and attend the port upon the arrival of each vessel. Attendance at the port is dependent on the shipping arrivals schedule otherwise customs is located at the Government administration buildings between 8am-5pm Monday to Friday

Standard shipment documentation is required to clear customs and is processed at the port at state level. For tax and duty exemption the procedure is to obtain the exemption letter for humanitarian goods through DECEM and the Department of Transport and Infrastructure in Palikir and for such an exemption letter to be provided with the clearance documentation at the port level, ideally prior to the arrival of the shipment. 

Clearance time for consignment is 24-48 hours and humanitarian goods will be prioritized in an emergency provided correct documentation is complete

For more information on customs in the Federated States of Micronesia, please see the following link: 1.3 Micronesia Customs Information.  

Terminal Information

Multipurpose Terminal

Pohnpei Port is essentially a general terminal and all vessels must be compatible and equipped with the ability to load and unload i.e. Gantry cranes for containers or bulk break or bagged or ramped vessels for vehicle loading on to the flat dock.

 There are three dock areas. International, Fishing Dock and the Domestic dock.

 The Marine Surveillance dock lies adjacent to and south of the Domestic dock.   

Grain and Bulk Handling

None

Main Storage Terminal

Pohnpei Port has two storage areas dock side. Two transit warehouses for bulk break freight and outside container storage

Storage and Transit Warehouses	Floor Storage

Stevedoring

While the port operation falls under the Pohnpei Ports Authority, a single private company provides stevedoring services the Federated Shipping Company Ltd (FSCO). FSCO also undertakes all terminal services and local transport services. FSCO Offices are located adjacent to the dock area on the access road (refer map)

All ships operating at the port require gantry cranes to load/unload container freight. The Kyowa line uses RoRo vessels for the shipment of vehicles, which also fall under the responsibility of FSCO.

Stevedoring services are mechanical as are terminal services and the labour component is for the unstuffing of containers. During an emergency additional labour can be provided by FSCO.

Hinterland Information

FSCO provides distribution services through the use of container chassis. Containers are delivered to customers and dropped at the consignee’s site. Consignees have 5 days after vessel departure to unload containers. FSCO own 3 x prime mover /tractor and 20 trailers.

Private companies also operate their own tractors and trailers for collection of containers. Due to the limit on FSCO trailer availability it is often the case that containers and trailers are only returned on the day of the next vessels arrival whether this is outside the free period of not. As such demurrage is often not charged to regular customers

Port Security

Micronesia is not signatory to the ISPS Code, however, the U.S. has invested resources to assist the Federated States of Micronesia build the capacity to implement the ISPS Code to increase merchant trade. 

Pohnpei Port operates under ISPS guidelines and has not recently undertaken an ISPS inspection due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As for previous inspection, the results are unknown at the time of writing. There was verbal acknowledgment from the Port Manager of some minor breaches that are difficult to rectify. The main issue is the location of a multi-story hotel that is adjacent to and overlooks the fence into the Commercial Port. To meet ISPS requirements the removal of the hotel is required. This is in the planning process and the site will ultimately accommodate a dock extension for use by the fishing fleet and domestic shipping. Timeline for this is 2-3 years.