Barcelona to Mombasa shipping route.

The shipping route from Barcelona, Spain to Mombasa, Kenya covers 4,691 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 6,319 km apart, so the ship sails 1.38 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb, 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 14.0 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 16.3 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 10.9. 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 Barcelona and Mombasa to plan the full ocean transit time.

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Cape of Good Hope sails 8,238 nm instead of 4,691 nm and spends roughly 10.6 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

1,591 nm of the route, 34% 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 Barcelona to Mombasa move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one.

Of the 64 port to port routes from Barcelona in this directory, Mombasa is the 29th shortest. Closer destinations include Cartagena (4,673 nm), Nhava Sheva (4,661 nm) and Mundra (4,647 nm).