How to Check a Ship's Arrival at Karachi Port on the KPT Website
Check when a ship reaches Karachi Port using Karachi Port Trust's free Expected Arrivals and Ship On Port pages. Five steps, with what we saw on 12 October.
Short answer: Open kpt.gov.pk, go to Shipping Intelligence and pick Expected Arrivals. Search the vessel name, or filter by Import or Export. On 12 October 2026 the page listed 36 vessels expected between 10 and 14 October. Then check Ships off Port and Ship On Port to see where the vessel stands.
A clearing agent tells you the ship "should be in by Wednesday". A day later it has not berthed, and a truck is booked and waiting. Karachi Port Trust (KPT) publishes the ship movements that answer this, and they are free to read.
We opened the Expected Arrivals, Ships off Port, Ship On Port and Ship Departures pages of kpt.gov.pk on 12 October 2026. All four showed "Updated Monday, 12 October 2026". We did not open the Track IGM tool, which sends you to a separate KPT server.
Expected Arrivals shows the ships due at Karachi Port
The Expected Arrivals page lists each vessel with its cargo group, whether it is an import or an export, the tonnage, the shipping agent and the expected date and time. On 12 October it showed 36 vessels, with dates from 10 to 14 October.
The vessels are grouped by cargo. We saw cement, chemical, crude oil, edible oil, general cargo, rice and container ships. Container ships show N/A for import or export, because one ship carries both. A search box at the top filters the list by vessel name or agent.
| Cargo group on 12 October | Vessels listed |
|---|---|
| General cargo | 11 |
| Container (geared and gearless) | 18 |
| Chemical | 2 |
| Edible oil | 2 |
| Cement, crude oil and rice | 1 each |
The time shown is an expected time, not a promise
An expected arrival is the port's planning time. Weather, berth space and the ship's own schedule can move it. Treat the page as a guide to the day, and confirm the berth time with your shipping agent.
One tanker, M.T. Lahore, was listed as a crude oil import of 73,000 tonnes for Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, due on 10 October at 10:30 pm. The Ship On Port page showed it at the Oil Pier from 11 October. So it arrived about a day after the listed time, which is the kind of gap to plan for.
Ships off Port and Ship On Port show where the vessel is now
Ships off Port lists vessels waiting outside for a berth. On 12 October it showed 0 vessels. Ship On Port lists vessels at a berth. It showed 18 vessels: 14 at the East Wharf, 3 at the Oil Pier and 1 at the West Wharf.
Each entry on Ship On Port gives the berth, the agent, the cargo type and the arrival time. A vessel called Bow Jaguar, for example, was at berth B-2 with chemicals since 11 October. If your ship is in neither list, it is still at sea or has left.
Ship Departures and Vessel History cover what has already left
Ship Departures showed one vessel on 12 October, the Helen Bulker, leaving the cement berth on 11 October at 8:15 am. Vessel History lets you pick a start and end date and returns each vessel's arrival, departure and purpose for that period.
Use these when a consignment is late and you need to know whether the ship has already come and gone. Our guide to contesting an overstayed cargo penalty in WeBOC explains why those dates matter when a demurrage or penalty is charged.
How to run the check in five steps
You need only the vessel name and the agent. The pages are public and need no login. Do the check on the same day you plan the truck, because the lists change through the day.
- Open kpt.gov.pk and go to Shipping Intelligence.
- Open Expected Arrivals and type the vessel name in the search box.
- If it is not listed, open Ship On Port and search again.
- If it is not there, open Ship Departures and then Vessel History for the dates.
- Note the berth and the time, and send the screenshot to your clearing agent.
Before you book the ship for your cargo, it is also worth knowing whether the vessel is on the port's blacklist, covered in checking a ship against the Karachi Port Trust blacklist. For the customs side of the shipment, see WeBOC or PSW for the goods declaration.
Common questions
Is the KPT Expected Arrivals page official?
Yes, it sits on kpt.gov.pk, the Karachi Port Trust website. We saw it updated on 12 October 2026.
Does the page cover Port Qasim?
No. It covers Karachi Port Trust only. Port Qasim has its own authority and its own website.
Can I track a single container on this page?
The page lists ships, not individual containers. KPT offers a Track IGM tool, which sends you to a separate KPT server. We did not open it, so ask your agent for the container steps.
Why is my ship not on the list?
It may not be due in the next few days, or the name may be spelled differently. Try part of the name, search by the agent, and check Ship On Port.
Does the page show the ship's cargo owner?
It shows the shipping agent and the cargo group, not the owner. Your clearing agent can match the ship to your bill of lading.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 12 October 2026. We read the Expected Arrivals, Ships off Port, Ship On Port and Ship Departures pages. The counts change through the day, so what you see will differ from ours.
About the author
Global Affairs & Political Economy Writer
Muhammad Hatim is a book lover who started writing because he enjoys it. At Pakistan Era he writes about international relations, geopolitics and the global economy, with a particular interest in South Asia and the forces behind current events.
