Ningbo to Gdansk shipping route.

The shipping route from Ningbo, China to Gdansk, Poland covers 11,303 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 8,117 km apart, so the ship sails 2.58 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Pure steaming time is 33.6 days at 14 knots. A carrier that slow steams at 12 knots to save fuel needs 39.2 days, and a fast 18 knot string about 26.2. Liner schedules on the lane quote 33 to 64 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 53 sailings by 9 carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM and Hapag-Lloyd).

The shortest route goes through the Red Sea. Since attacks on shipping began there in late 2023, many carriers send ships via Panama Canal instead. That route is 14,250 nautical miles, 2,948 more, and adds about 8.8 days at 14 knots. Longer voyages burn more fuel and tie up more ships, which is why freight rates on Red Sea lanes jumped when the diversions started.

3,185 nm of the route, 28% 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.

Recent freight rates for CNNGB to PLGDN start at $1,875 for a 20GP and $2,975 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 Gdansk (PLGDN) carriers give about 7.5 free days before demurrage and detention charges start, so plan the truck or rail pickup before the box lands.

Of the 64 port to port routes from Ningbo in this directory, Gdansk is the 63rd shortest. Closer destinations include Buenos Aires (11,190 nm), Santos (10,986 nm) and Gothenburg (10,907 nm).