Gdansk to Ningbo shipping route.

Ships leaving Gdansk for Ningbo head north east and cover a sea distance of 11,303 nautical miles (20,933 km), via Suez Canal. The straight line between the ports is 8,117 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. 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.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 33.6 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 39.2 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 26.2. Liner schedules on the lane quote 33 to 64 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 53 sailings by 9 carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM and Hapag-Lloyd).

The shortest route goes through the Red Sea. Since attacks on shipping began there in late 2023, many carriers send ships via Panama Canal instead. That route is 14,250 nautical miles, 2,948 more, and adds about 8.8 days at 14 knots. Longer voyages burn more fuel and tie up more ships, which is why freight rates on Red Sea lanes jumped when the diversions started.

3,185 nm of the route, 28% of it, lies inside North Sea ECA, Baltic 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 PLGDN to CNNGB start at $1,875 for a 20GP and $2,975 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 Ningbo (CNNGB) carriers give about 7 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 Gdansk in this directory, Ningbo is the 55th shortest. Closer destinations include Kaohsiung (10,879 nm), Xiamen (10,867 nm) and Yantian (10,663 nm).