Gothenburg to Melbourne shipping route.

The shipping route from Gothenburg, Sweden to Melbourne, Australia covers 11,611 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 15,980 km apart, so the ship sails 1.35 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb 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 34.6 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 40.3 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 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 Gothenburg and Melbourne 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 12,616 nm instead of 11,611 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.

2,789 nm of the route, 24% 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.

Container freight rates on Gothenburg to Melbourne move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Melbourne (AUMEL) 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 65 port to port routes from Gothenburg in this directory, Melbourne is the 61st shortest. Closer destinations include Dalian (11,428 nm), Incheon (11,413 nm) and Busan (11,344 nm).