Djibouti - Clearance
ARRIVAL FORMALITIES
Advance Notification:
Use of an agent is mandatory for all yachts over 30ft. Using an agent greatly simplifies the entry process which is still very much geared towards commercial shipping. Recent reports (The Red Sea – August 2023) indicate that while it can be expensive with extra charges, the right agent can make your stop over a pleasant and easy experience. It is also possible to undertake clearance here without an agent, it just takes a little more time according to cruisers who visited in 2023. If planning to explore local waters and spend some time cruising here, use of an agent is definitely recommended to avoid any problems. See Clearance Agents.
Be sure to look at agent recommendations from other cruisers and get a few quotes for entry costs. Cargo agents will try and charge commercial shipping fees to small yachts, so find an agent that is used to dealing with small craft. Some cruisers have reported being quoted silly amounts. Communicate your programme to your agent well in advance of your arrival so all the necessary arrangements can be made.
Boat documentation, crew list, passport copies and exit zarpe from your last port must all be sent in advance to your agent. Your agent will present these to the Coastguard and Navy so they know who you are when you show up on AIS, meaning you shouldn’t experience any problems on approaches to Djibouti.
Once in Djibouti waters, monitor VHF Channel 16 at all times so the Coast Guard/Navy and authorities can communicate with you as you approach the harbor. If nothing heard, call Port Control Djibouti when 10NM from the harbor on VHF Channel 10 (they may not answer). The Djibouti Navy operates on VHF Channel 16.
General Process:
This is a Muslim country, so the weekend is on Friday and Saturday and all major offices, government and businesses are closed.
On entering the port you may be met by a Coast Guard boat and escorted to an anchorage which is likely to be near the Coastguard station (Port de Peche – pink and yellow striped building). On the eastern side of the bay there is good protection and holding and it is close to the marina area for tying up your dinghy when going ashore (between US$5 and US$10 a time – or negotiate or a longer period i.e $50/week ), plus away from all the container ship activity.
Contact your agent as soon as you enter port and they will meet you with all the necessary forms.
If you plan to stop in Djibouti just for rest and refuel with no need to sail within the area, the clearance procedure is straightforward.
Tie up to the concrete wall where all the tug boats are. It’s not particularly dinghy friendly but there are some ladders or large tyres to tie up to and climb up (easiest at high tide – at low tide, this might be 13 feet and at high tide 6 feet).
Position of the wall: 11°36.589’N 43°8.124’E.
You will need to visit the following authorities:
- Port Captain “Capitainerie du port”: They speak English, will ask for some paperwork and explain the costs for anchoring. Tel: +25377819639. Position: 11°36.658’N 43°8.081’E. (note: there are four wooden doors in a very old building – it’s the one on the left.
- Immigration Office: One minute walk from the Harbour master’s office. Position: 11°36.670’N 43°8.122’E . All crew will be issued with visas which are valid for 30 days. See fees for charges. You will also be issued with a shore pass. (It is advisable to have the exact amount to pay for the visas.)
- Coast Guard: May board your vessel requesting a copy of ship papers and other documentation. They may do a quick search of the vessel.
- Quarantine: The Quarantine Officer will take the temperature of all crew and will want to see International Vaccination Travel Record books and check for Yellow Fever vaccination.
You can arrange for a water taxi service to shore (for a fee) so you don’t have to use your dinghy.
DOMESTIC CRUISING
Yachts that want to cruise the country outside of Djibouti port must obtain Cruising Permits from the Tourist Office and Maritime Affairs. The process is very complicated and you are well advised to use an agent to assist. See Documents for more details.
CLEARING OUT
Visit the Capitainerie first where you will get your port clearance and pay the anchorage fee in local currency. It is 5700 Djibouti franc (about US$30) for 1-4 days. Again it is advisable to have the correct amount as officials rarely have change.
Then checkout at immigration where they will stamp your passport(s), a very quick process – less than five minutes according to recent reports. It is advisable to give officials up to 48 hours notice so they have time to prepare all the paperwork.
Last updated: August 2023
If you have information for this section, or feedback on businesses used, please let us know at editor@noonsite.com. We also welcome new information about businesses you have used (see Related Businesses).
Next Section: Formalities: Clearance Agents
Related to following destinations: Djibouti
Country Navigation
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
Use the coupon code NOONSITE_5A2B when checking out to get 10% off today.
Buy Now On YachtFlags.comMain Ports - Djibouti
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
Use the coupon code NOONSITE_5A2B when checking out to get 10% off today.
Buy Now On YachtFlags.comFormalities
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
Use the coupon code NOONSITE_5A2B when checking out to get 10% off today.
Buy Now On YachtFlags.com
Arrived with SY Leeloawadee in Djibouti Port on 21.Aug 08.00PM. Stayed on Anchor and got check in next morning. Within 1hour, all check in was done incl. Navy inspection, visa and port authority.
Agent Hassan was amazingly supportive with all we needed. Arrange taxi, food delivery, fuel, boat cleaning, diver…..
Just perfect service.
Total cost:
Diver – 5 hours 45,- USD
Diesel: 1.4 USD / Ltr.
Agent: 350,- USD check in, check out and all authorities incl.
There are big supermarkets nearby, but all is very expensive in Djibouti. A box of Beer 60,- USD
Taxi to Town: 5,- USD
People is very friendly and we had a very pleasant stay. Some good restaurants in town.
We left Djibouti on 25th 7.30AM towards Socotra. All weather models ( Predict Wind Professional) are more or less wrong in this area. WE stayed between the two traffic zones heading East. Lots of ships around us all the time.
The Navy war ships has a higher presence there due to the EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta. There are warships all over, even from China.
An Japanese airplane flow over us one time checking in and contacted on channel 16. We checked in daily at 8.00AM by email to UKMTO and got a return message after minutes.
A Spanish Fregatte send me an e-mail with contact detials of all officers on duty and asked me to contact them for any help or in case of anything suspicious happend.
We felt safe all the time and no issue while under way in the Gulf of Aden.
Now its 29.th August and we are leaving the International Transit Corridor in 2 hours, going down S.
Djibouti Sailing Permit issue – 5 to 21 May 2023
Preface:
Sailing Yacht Tabata III – 24mt ketch – 5 crew
We are sailing around the world collecting underwired video footages, especially shark’s videos.
Everywhere we go we hire local agents for assisting us with formalities clearance and logistic. We notify our arrival 4 to 5 months ahead so that agents have time to organize.
Case:
We arrived in Djibouti on the 5 May 2023. Our local agent was Mr. Ahssan Phoenix of Red Sea Up Down Yachting Agency. Our requirements were to get assistance for boat and crew clearance, organize refueling, get sailing permit and authorization to dive in the Tadjoura Gulf and at the Seven Brothers Islands.
The 5th of May at our arrival, Mr. Ahssan greeted us and took us to the immigration office for passports stamps. Afterwards he arranged the boat inspection by Custom/Cost Guard department.
All was done the same day. In the afternoon Mr. Ahssan told us that we could depart for our trip within Djibouti waters. We asked if we had to get any documents and the answer was NO and we were good to go.
We departed from Djibouti harbor on the 6 May and sailed towards the Western area of the Tadjoura Gulf. After two days of sailing and diving we were approached by a navy boat (Marine National) whom crew brusquely ordered us to return to port with machine guns in sight. They’d escorted us for 10 hours back to Dhibouti harbor where we arrived at midnight on the 8 May. The Harbor Master officer told us to drop anchor in the bay and wait. So we did waited….for 9 days! Took over a week to understand the issue. The problem was (apparently) caused by the agent Mr. Ahssan Phoenix whom didn’t applied for all of the necessary permits. Every departments stated that was not our fault but despite this, we had to stay in port until investigation was completed. The police arrested Mr. Ahssan Phoenix on the 10 of May (and released him 4 days after) therefore we hired another agent as is impossible to foreign to deal with local authorities. Our new agent Mr. Mohamed Ali of Djibouti Faucon Du Golf agency, did a great job and within 24 hours managed to get us the missing permits (Affaires Maritimes and Agence National du Tourisme di Djibouti permits), but nevertheless the authorities (Harbor Department and Navy) denied us the permission to move.
Days were passing with no news so we lost hope and interest in exploring Djibouti waters and we decided that was time to leave the country. We contacted our embassies (French and Italian) for help and within minutes the case was solved and we were free to move again. Apparently embassies made few calls to some generals whom kicked some asses .
Moral of the story: if you plan to stop in Djibouti just for rest and refuel with no need to sail within the area the procedure is very simple: on arrival contact Harbor Master, Immigration and Custom (boat inspection is done by Guard Coast). An agent can simplify this process. If you plan to stop longer and sail along Djibouti cost-line, which is very beautiful and deserves to be visited especially by divers, Please be aware that permits request procedure is quiet complicate and you need an agent to assist you for this. We highly recommend Mr. Mohamed Ali – WhatsApp +25377880007 email: djfaucondugolf@gmail.com who is the most experience agent with best contacts. There are many offices that you need to ask for permission to navigate within Djibouti waters. Some will issue a document others will simply acknowledge your request and give verbal consent. Those offices are:
1. Djibouti Harbor Department (verbal authorization)
2. Immigration Office (verbal authorization)
3. Custom Office (verbal authorization)
4. Affaires Maritimes (will issue permit – costed us 500USD)
5. Agence Nationale du Tourisme de Djibouti (will issue permit)
6. Coast Guard (verbal authorization)
7. Marine Nationale (Navy) (verbal authorization)
We were told that also Harbor Police Office (other than harbor Master) need to be notified but we have no confirmation on this.
Djibouti authorities are not use to have private sailing yacht cruising around and the agents/officers themselves are not clear about which permit need to be requested and in which order.
You must notify to all office, through your agent, your intended itinerary and every night anchorage point. Provide them copy of boat registration and crew list. Everyone there uses WhatsApp and the offices accept that the documentation is forwarded with this system.
Report received from Sailing Vessel TUVALU from Barcelona, Spain [www.tuvalubarcelona.es]
Update Gulf of Aden:
Between the 12th to the 26th of February 2023, we sailed with our Dufour 40 Performance TUVALU from the Maldives (Uligam) to Djibouti. It was a fast trip with most of the day’s nice winds between 10 to 15 knots, so we have been running the engine only for around 48 hours.
The European MSCHOA and the British UKTMO who are protecting the area are still present, contrary to the latest news (saying that they will cease military protection at the end of January 23). We had flyovers twice by a military airplane, talking to them on VHFCh. 16. We also sent to both organizations our daily position through IridiumGo, starting the reports once we left Maldives. We had absolutely no issues with pirates.
We sailed the 600 miles of the ETCM virtual channel in between the transiting cargo ships channel, in a 2 miles-wide area. There are many cargo ships, and at all times you can see several of them – so, you are never alone! But if you are sailing in the area in between, then you are free of them and it’s quite safe.
We left our AIS on, as MSCHOA recommend yachts do, as well as our PredictWind Tracking page: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Tuvalu/
We are about to leave Djbouti after an enjoyable weeks stay. We heartily recommend Ahssan as agent. His will go beyond to help and while Djibouti is expensive his fee is reasonable. The 2 day trip to Lac Abbe is fantastic.
I just want to let you know that Djibouti is open since 17th of July. I saw that it still stated that it is closed, but that information is not correct anymore. I hope someone can adjust it.. thanks!
Marjolein