Cartagena to Colombo shipping route.

Cartagena to Colombo is a 9,578 nautical mile shipping route via Suez Canal, heading north east from Colombia to Sri Lanka. That is 17,738 km of water against 16,676 km as the crow flies. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

At sea, the voyage lasts 33.3 days at 12 knots, 28.5 days at 14 knots and 22.2 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 Cartagena and Colombo 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 10,734 nm instead of 9,578 nm and spends roughly 3.4 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

1,935 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 Cartagena to Colombo move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Colombo (LKCMB) 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 65 port to port routes from Cartagena in this directory, Colombo is the 56th shortest. Closer destinations include Kaohsiung (9,408 nm), Xiamen (9,404 nm) and Nhava Sheva (9,122 nm).