Chittagong Karnaphuli River Tide Information 2025
Anyone berthing at the jetties or holding a vessel at anchorage on the Karnaphuli needs the tide window right, not just roughly right. This page brings together the Chittagong Karnaphuli River tide tables, tidal forecasts, and real-time gauge readings agents actually check before clearing a lighterage vessel over the bar. The river runs a tidal range of 2.0 to 5.5 meters, semi-diurnal, with the monsoon months pushing that range wider and cutting the safe window shorter.
Chittagong Port Authority Tide Tables: Download As PDF
Karnaphuli River: Navigation Guide
The Karnaphuli is what keeps Chittagong Port moving, feeding straight out into the Bay of Bengal. Getting the river tide patterns and bar depths right is the difference between a smooth jetty berthing and a vessel sitting locked at anchorage waiting for the next high water. For live weather, agents keep the Marine Warning for Bangladesh from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department open alongside the tide table, and our Chittagong Port Services page covers the rest of the clearance and berthing side.
River Bar Depths (2025)
Draft shortage on the bars is the usual reason a DG cargo vessel or a deep-draft lighterage barge gets held at anchorage for tide. Three bars control the approach:
At the river mouth, where the mouth currents run strongest. Least depth on record is 5.3 meters (ISLWL), the first checkpoint for any vessel coming in from the anchorage.
2.26 km upstream of the Outer Bar. Least depth 7.2 meters (ISLWL), generally the easier of the three to clear once the tide has built.
8.58 km upstream of the Outer Bar. Least depth 6.9 meters (ISLWL), the one PSC officers and pilots watch closest on a falling tide.
Bar depths shift with lunar cycles and weather-driven tides. Confirm the nautical tide record on the day, not the week before.
Chittagong Tide Chart & Calendar 2025
For tide timing at Chittagong Port and a 7-day tide forecast, the tidal graph gives the clearest read on tide height through the day. Agents cross-check it against the Chittagong Tide Calendar for the monthly tide prediction before booking a jetty berthing slot or an anchorage barge delivery.
Daily and Seasonal Patterns
The Karnaphuli runs a semi-diurnal tide, two highs and two lows every day, and that cycle sets the rhythm of every berthing plan on the port. Through the monsoon, June to September, the tidal amplitude climbs and the safe window for crossing the bars narrows, so navigation plans built in the dry season need a second look once the rains start.
Real-Time Tide Monitoring
For real-time tide Chittagong data, the CPA Tide Portal is the standing reference agents pull port tide updates from before confirming a lighterage schedule. Full details sit with the Chittagong Port Authority.
Tide Gauge Stations
Live readings are pulled from four stations along the river and coast:
The most current tidal figures are always on the Chittagong Port Authority Real-Time Tidal Data page, and marine warnings for weather-driven tides come from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
FAQs for Safe Navigation
What is the tidal range in Chittagong?
The tidal range at Chittagong runs 2.0 to 5.5 meters, moving with the lunar cycle and the season.
When are high and low tides in the Karnaphuli River?
Exact high and low tide times for the Karnaphuli are in the Chittagong Tide Tables 2025, updated daily for both the port stretch and the river approach.
How do I access real-time tide data?
The CPA Tide Portal and the four gauge stations, CCT, Bay Terminal, Matarbari, and Matarbari-2, all carry live tide readings.
How do monsoons affect Karnaphuli tides?
From June to September the monsoon pushes tidal amplitude up, which shortens the safe crossing window on the outer, inner, and Gupta bars.