Antwerp to Hong Kong shipping route.

Ships leaving Antwerp for Hong Kong head north east and cover a sea distance of 9,795 nautical miles (18,140 km), via Suez Canal. The straight line between the ports is 9,373 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. 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 29.2 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 34.0 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 22.7. Liner schedules on the lane quote 40 to 65 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 53 sailings by 5 carriers (CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, ONE and OOCL).

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Cape of Good Hope sails 13,129 nm instead of 9,795 nm and spends roughly 9.9 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,333 nm of the route, 24% 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 HKHKG start at $1,815 for a 20GP and $3,320 for a 40GP. These are spot market prices from carriers that sail the lane; your quote will also include terminal handling, documentation and any bunker surcharge. At Hong Kong (HKHKG) carriers give about 5 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, Hong Kong is the 47th shortest. Closer destinations include Manila (9,719 nm), Haiphong (9,675 nm) and Laem Chabang (9,159 nm).