Algeciras to Busan shipping route.

The shipping route from Algeciras, Spain to Busan, South Korea covers 9,528 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 10,798 km apart, so the ship sails 1.63 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 28.4 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 33.1 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 22.1. Container transit time on a liner service is longer than the steaming time: ships call at other ports on the rotation, and cargo may transship at a hub. Add terminal time at Algeciras and Busan to plan the full ocean transit time.

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Panama Canal sails 12,576 nm instead of 9,528 nm and spends roughly 9.1 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

1,925 nm of the route, 20% of it, lies inside Mediterranean Sea ECA. In an emission control area ships must burn fuel with no more than 0.1% sulphur or clean the exhaust with scrubbers. That fuel costs more, and carriers add it to the ocean freight bill as a low sulphur or ECA surcharge.

Container freight rates on Algeciras to Busan move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Busan (KRPUS) carriers give about 10 free days before demurrage and detention charges start, so plan the truck or rail pickup before the box lands.

Of the 65 port to port routes from Algeciras in this directory, Busan is the 58th shortest. Closer destinations include Qingdao (9,469 nm), Shanghai (9,205 nm) and Ningbo (9,091 nm).