Gothenburg to Houston shipping route.

Gothenburg to Houston is a 5,169 nautical mile shipping route on a direct course, heading north west from Sweden to the United States. That is 9,573 km of water against 8,188 km as the crow flies. No canals or major straits on this leg, the ship stays close to the direct line.

Pure steaming time is 15.4 days at 14 knots. A carrier that slow steams at 12 knots to save fuel needs 17.9 days, and a fast 18 knot string about 12.0. 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 Gothenburg and Houston to plan the full ocean transit time.

3,332 nm of the route, 64% of it, lies inside North American ECA and North 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 Gothenburg 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 Gothenburg in this directory, Houston is the 26th shortest. Closer destinations include Balboa (5,148 nm), Djibouti (5,117 nm) and Cartagena (5,049 nm).