Durban to Houston shipping route.

The shipping route from Durban, South Africa to Houston, United States covers 8,324 nautical miles port to port, via Cape of Good Hope. On a globe the two ports sit 14,884 km apart, so the ship sails 1.04 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Cape of Good Hope.

At sea, the voyage lasts 28.9 days at 12 knots, 24.8 days at 14 knots and 19.3 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 Durban and Houston to plan the full ocean transit time.

835 nm of the route, 10% of it, lies inside North American ECA and US Caribbean 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 Durban to Houston move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Houston (USHOU) 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 Durban in this directory, Houston is the 60th shortest. Closer destinations include Montreal (8,047 nm), Gdansk (7,859 nm) and Tokyo (7,741 nm).