London Gateway to Piraeus shipping route.

The shipping route from London Gateway, United Kingdom to Piraeus, Greece covers 2,762 nautical miles port to port, on a direct course. On a globe the two ports sit 2,353 km apart, so the ship sails 2.17 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar.

At sea, the voyage lasts 9.6 days at 12 knots, 8.2 days at 14 knots and 6.4 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 Piraeus to plan the full ocean transit time.

1,806 nm of the route, 65% 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 London Gateway to Piraeus move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Piraeus (GRPIR) carriers give about 6.75 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, Piraeus is the 10th shortest. Closer destinations include Marsaxlokk (2,314 nm), Genoa (2,190 nm) and Barcelona (1,858 nm).