Felixstowe to Qingdao shipping route.

The shipping route from Felixstowe, United Kingdom to Qingdao, China covers 10,781 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 8,582 km apart, so the ship sails 2.33 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Pure steaming time is 32.1 days at 14 knots. A carrier that slow steams at 12 knots to save fuel needs 37.4 days, and a fast 18 knot string about 25.0. Liner schedules on the lane quote 5 to 59 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 35 sailings by 5 carriers (CMA CGM, Evergreen, MSC, ONE and OOCL).

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Panama Canal sails 13,449 nm instead of 10,781 nm and spends roughly 7.9 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,285 nm of the route, 21% 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 GBFXT to CNTAO start at $2,200 for a 20GP and $3,400 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 Qingdao (CNTAO) carriers give about 6 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 Felixstowe in this directory, Qingdao is the 53rd shortest. Closer destinations include Shanghai (10,517 nm), Ningbo (10,403 nm) and Kaohsiung (9,979 nm).