Le Havre to Marsaxlokk shipping route.

The shipping route from Le Havre, France to Marsaxlokk, Malta covers 2,186 nautical miles port to port, on a direct course. On a globe the two ports sit 1,917 km apart, so the ship sails 2.11 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 6.5 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 7.6 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 5.1. 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 Le Havre and Marsaxlokk to plan the full ocean transit time.

1,234 nm of the route, 56% of it, lies inside North 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 Le Havre to Marsaxlokk move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Marsaxlokk (MTMAR) 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 61 port to port routes from Le Havre in this directory, Marsaxlokk is the 9th shortest. Closer destinations include Genoa (2,062 nm), Barcelona (1,730 nm) and Valencia (1,591 nm).