Shipping Guides Ltd was created by Colin Pielow, a man who saw a need within the shipping industry for a single source of port and harbour information, and who had the courage to make his idea a reality with the publication of the first edition of Guide to Port Entry in 1971.

Detailed research, determination and the development of communications between Colin and the maritime community lead to the success of his unique idea and it is exactly these elements which continue to be the foundation of excellence on which we operate to this day.

Colin, the original author of the Guide, was an innovator and a man of vision, but even he could not have known just how successful Guide to Port Entry was destined to become, together with the additional publications that would appear in subsequent years. The value in providing port, harbour and terminal information has been recognised by the maritime industry and as a result, we are continuously in supply of the latest port information. 
The content of the 1971, first edition of Guide to Port Entry ran to less than 600 pages within a single volume. Today, despite using a smaller font, we find it difficult to include all our available information within 6,000 pages of a four volume set!

In 1972, the recognition of the tanker industries specific requirements lead to the production of a specialist publication, Guide to Tanker Ports. Information on wet cargo terminals and facilities, provided as a loose-leaf, subscription-based publication, has grown from a single binder of port information to no less than 10 binders, with updated information from our port database being provided to our subscribers every 3 months.

During the early years of the company's history, with sales steadily increasing, it was a large order from a Russian shipping line that really put Shipping Guides on its feet. This was all the encouragement Colin needed to launch the next publication in the company's portfolio in 1984: The Ships Atlas. In no time this also became renowned as one of the world's leading maritime atlases, an indispensable reference tool for many in the industry.
Owing to the success of our world themed maps included within The Ships Atlas, encouraged us to also make them available to purchase individually, now known as our Feature Maps. 

The 90's welcomed the addition of both The Shipping World's Map (1990) and The Guide on CD (1997) to our product portfolio and the new millennium saw the development of our online port information resource, findaport.com, launched in February 2010.

Findaport.com enables the online access of our complete port information database to anyone within the maritime industry and since it is updated daily, we are proud to say that for the first time, we are able to provide port information which is continuously current to our customers.

With our growing customer base and an ever-increasing portfolio of publications, we are and will remain as committed, as ever, to providing the most comprehensive and accurate port, habour and termainl data for everyone in the maritime industry.

Current Shipping Guides publications

Guide to Port Entry
Guide to Tanker Ports
The Guide on CD
The Ships Atlas
The Shipping World's Map
findaport.com
Feature Maps: International Load Line zones and Areas, MARPOL 73/78, Maritime Piracy Incidents, Sensitive Sea Areas, Standard Time Zones, Ocean Currents, Global Wind Patterns and World Political