London Gateway to Cartagena shipping route.

Ships leaving London Gateway for Cartagena head west and cover a sea distance of 4,650 nautical miles (8,612 km), on a direct course. The straight line between the ports is 8,137 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 16.1 days at 12 knots, 13.8 days at 14 knots and 10.8 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 London Gateway and Cartagena to plan the full ocean transit time.

533 nm of the route, 11% of it, lies inside US Caribbean Sea 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 London Gateway to Cartagena move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Cartagena (COCTG) carriers give about 10 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 London Gateway in this directory, Cartagena is the 20th shortest. Closer destinations include Djibouti (4,614 nm), Lagos (Apapa) (4,191 nm) and Jeddah (3,954 nm).