Houston to Gdansk shipping route.

Ships leaving Houston for Gdansk head north east and cover a sea distance of 5,565 nautical miles (10,307 km), on a direct course. The straight line between the ports is 8,736 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. No canals or major straits on this leg, the ship stays close to the direct line.

At sea, the voyage lasts 19.3 days at 12 knots, 16.6 days at 14 knots and 12.9 days at 18 knots. 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 Houston and Gdansk to plan the full ocean transit time.

3,728 nm of the route, 67% of it, lies inside North American ECA, North Sea ECA and Baltic 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 Houston to Gdansk move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Gdansk (PLGDN) carriers give about 7.5 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 Houston in this directory, Gdansk is the 22nd shortest. Closer destinations include Barcelona (5,313 nm), Hamburg (5,250 nm) and Bremerhaven (5,203 nm).