Felixstowe to Sydney shipping route.

Felixstowe to Sydney is a 11,603 nautical mile shipping route via Suez Canal, heading north east from the United Kingdom to Australia. That is 21,488 km of water against 16,879 km as the crow flies. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb and Suez Canal, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Pure steaming time is 34.5 days at 14 knots. A carrier that slow steams at 12 knots to save fuel needs 40.3 days, and a fast 18 knot string about 26.9. 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 Felixstowe and Sydney 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 12,608 nm instead of 11,603 nm and spends roughly 3.0 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, 20% 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.

Container freight rates on Felixstowe to Sydney move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Sydney (AUSYD) carriers give about 8 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, Sydney is the 60th shortest. Closer destinations include Tokyo (11,255 nm), Yokohama (11,244 nm) and Melbourne (11,107 nm).