Melbourne to Gothenburg shipping route.

Ships leaving Melbourne for Gothenburg head north west and cover a sea distance of 11,611 nautical miles (21,504 km), via Suez Canal. The straight line between the ports is 15,980 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

At sea, the voyage lasts 40.3 days at 12 knots, 34.6 days at 14 knots and 26.9 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 Melbourne and Gothenburg to plan the full ocean transit time.

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Cape of Good Hope sails 12,616 nm instead of 11,611 nm and spends roughly 3.0 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,789 nm of the route, 24% of it, lies inside North Sea ECA, Baltic 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 Melbourne to Gothenburg move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Gothenburg (SEGOT) carriers give about 5 free days before demurrage and detention charges start, so plan the truck or rail pickup before the box lands.

Of the 65 port to port routes from Melbourne in this directory, Gothenburg is the 64th shortest. Closer destinations include Montreal (11,476 nm), Hamburg (11,432 nm) and Bremerhaven (11,386 nm).