Gdansk to Shanghai shipping route.

The shipping route from Gdansk, Poland to Shanghai, China covers 11,417 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 7,977 km apart, so the ship sails 2.65 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 34.0 days at 14 knots. A carrier that slow steams at 12 knots to save fuel needs 39.6 days, and a fast 18 knot string about 26.4. Liner schedules on the lane quote 36 to 66 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 65 sailings by 8 carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM and Hapag-Lloyd).

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Panama Canal sails 14,198 nm instead of 11,417 nm and spends roughly 8.3 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

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 CNSHA start at $1,835 for a 20GP and $2,935 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 Shanghai (CNSHA) 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 65 port to port routes from Gdansk in this directory, Shanghai is the 56th shortest. Closer destinations include Ningbo (11,303 nm), Kaohsiung (10,879 nm) and Xiamen (10,867 nm).