Algeciras to Charleston shipping route.

The shipping route from Algeciras, Spain to Charleston, United States covers 3,652 nautical miles port to port, on a direct course. On a globe the two ports sit 6,665 km apart, so the ship sails 1.01 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar.

At sea, the voyage lasts 12.7 days at 12 knots, 10.9 days at 14 knots and 8.5 days at 18 knots. 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 Charleston to plan the full ocean transit time.

537 nm of the route, 15% of it, lies inside North American ECA and 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 Charleston move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Charleston (USCHS) carriers give about 4 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, Charleston is the 22nd shortest. Closer destinations include Montreal (3,303 nm), Djibouti (3,301 nm) and New York (3,209 nm).