London Gateway to Durban shipping route.

London Gateway to Durban is a 6,961 nautical mile shipping route via Cape of Good Hope, heading south east from the United Kingdom to South Africa. That is 12,891 km of water against 9,529 km as the crow flies. On the way the vessel passes Cape of Good Hope.

At sea, the voyage lasts 24.2 days at 12 knots, 20.7 days at 14 knots and 16.1 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 Durban to plan the full ocean transit time.

352 nm of the route, 5% of it, lies inside 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 Durban move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Durban (ZADUR) carriers give about 3 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, Durban is the 35th shortest. Closer destinations include Colombo (6,763 nm), Manzanillo (6,474 nm) and Mombasa (6,339 nm).