Antwerp to Ho Chi Minh City shipping route.

The shipping route from Antwerp, Belgium to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam covers 8,991 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 9,915 km apart, so the ship sails 1.68 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Suez Canal, 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 26.8 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 31.2 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 20.8. Liner schedules on the lane quote 36 to 68 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 42 sailings by 3 carriers (Hapag-Lloyd, ONE and OOCL).

The shortest route goes through the Red Sea. Since attacks on shipping began there in late 2023, many carriers send ships via Cape of Good Hope instead. That route is 12,434 nautical miles, 3,444 more, and adds about 10.2 days at 14 knots. Longer voyages burn more fuel and tie up more ships, which is why freight rates on Red Sea lanes jumped when the diversions started.

2,333 nm of the route, 26% of it, lies inside North Sea 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.

Recent freight rates for BEANR to VNSGN start at $1,984 for a 20GP and $3,269 for a 40GP ($3,019 for a 40HC). These are spot market prices from carriers that sail the lane; your quote will also include terminal handling, documentation and any bunker surcharge. At Ho Chi Minh City (VNSGN) 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 61 port to port routes from Antwerp in this directory, Ho Chi Minh City is the 41st shortest. Closer destinations include Tanjung Priok (8,639 nm), Singapore (8,362 nm) and Oakland (8,194 nm).