# What's the farthest away point from the next seaport in the ocean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979 "2014-04-25T18:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/1 "2014-04-25T18:53:28Z")
Just a random thought I just had watching a movie including seafaring: given the case that a ship crew ran out of provisions, what would be the most inconvenient place for that just regarding the distance to the nearest seaport? In other the words, what is the most remote part in the sea? (It has to be in the Pacific, hasn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/2 "2014-04-25T18:57:09Z")
What are your requirements for a seaport? Do the Antarctica bases count? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/3 "2014-04-25T19:03:35Z")
Yeah that’s the tricky part in defining the question. I don’t know much about seafaring so it’s hard to nail it down for me, but I’d say that a motor ship capable of crossing the Pacific should be able to land at that port. ETA: this would obviously include Antarctica. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/4 "2014-04-25T19:08:14Z")
The Southern Indian Ocean between Australia and the SE coast of Africa or Madagascar is fairly remote. While Pitcairn Island in the Pacific is the most remote inhabited island, at least there are seaports and islands around the Pacific you could make for if things went bad. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/5 "2014-04-25T19:44:56Z")
Much of the [North Pacific Ocean](http://www.npafc.org/new/images/enforcement/convention_map_small.jpg) is pretty remote – between Alaska, Japan, the Western U.S. and Hawaii there’s no dry land at all, just a bunch of [floating garbage.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/6 "2014-04-25T20:16:02Z")
> [@](#): > > While Pitcairn Island in the Pacific is the most remote inhabited island… I thought it was Tristan del Cunha, in the South Atlantic? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/7 "2014-04-25T21:23:18Z")
If we’re just talking “distance to land”, then the [oceanic pole of inaccessibility](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility#Oceanic_pole_of_inaccessibility) is in the Southern Pacific Ocean, nearly 2700 km from the nearest points of land (Ducie Island, near Pitcairn; Moto Nui, one of the Easter Islands, and Maher Island, off the coast of Antarctica.) Here’s a [map,](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Distancia_a_la_costa.png) if you like. Now, obviously there isn’t a port on Maher Island, so you could get even further away from a port by moving towards Maher Island from the coast of inaccessibility. I think that the only port in Antarctica worthy of the name is at McMurdo Station, but you might end up being limited by Chile before you ran into that one. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/8 "2014-04-25T21:32:00Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > If we’re just talking “distance to land”, then the [oceanic pole of inaccessibility](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility#Oceanic_pole_of_inaccessibility) is in the Southern Pacific Ocean, nearly 2700 km from the nearest points of land (Ducie Island, near Pitcairn; Moto Nui, one of the Easter Islands, and Maher Island, off the coast of Antarctica.) Here’s a [map,](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Distancia_a_la_costa.png) if you like. > > Now, obviously there isn’t a port on Maher Island, so you could get even further away from a port by moving towards Maher Island from the coast of inaccessibility. I think that the only port in Antarctica worthy of the name is at McMurdo Station, but you might end up being limited by Chile before you ran into that one. Maybe this is was I was originally looking for, but I was starting from the premise of the forlorn ship, so I made the criteria somewhat fuzzy. I don’t think we can get a better answer. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/9 "2014-04-25T21:32:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought it was Tristan del Cunha, in the South Atlantic? It’s Tristan _da_ Cunha, and yes it’s the most remote inhabited island. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-away-point-from-the-next-seaport-in-the-ocean/686979/10 "2014-04-25T21:58:48Z")
> **[Extremes on Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_Earth)** > > This article lists extreme locations on Earth that hold geographical records or are otherwise known for their geophysical or meteorological superlatives. All of these locations are Earth-wide extremes; extremes of individual continents or countries are not listed. > These are the longest straight lines\[c\] that can be drawn between any two points on the surface of the Earth and remain exclusively over land or water; the points need not lie on the same line of latitude or longitude. > As distinct ...