London Gateway to Xiamen shipping route.

Ships leaving London Gateway for Xiamen head north east and cover a sea distance of 9,969 nautical miles (18,462 km), via Suez Canal. The straight line between the ports is 9,617 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Suez Canal, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 29.7 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 34.6 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 23.1. Liner schedules on the lane quote 33 to 133 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 25 sailings by 4 carriers (CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and MSC).

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Cape of Good Hope sails 13,289 nm instead of 9,969 nm and spends roughly 9.9 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,286 nm of the route, 23% 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.

Recent freight rates for GBLGP to CNXMN start at $1,720 for a 20GP and $3,000 for a 40GP. These are spot market prices from carriers that sail the lane; your quote will also include terminal handling, documentation and any bunker surcharge. At Xiamen (CNXMN) 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 London Gateway in this directory, Xiamen is the 49th shortest. Closer destinations include Yantian (9,765 nm), Hong Kong (9,744 nm) and Manila (9,667 nm).