Piraeus to Shanghai shipping route.

The shipping route from Piraeus, Greece to Shanghai, China covers 7,877 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 8,540 km apart, so the ship sails 1.71 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb and Strait of Malacca, 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 23.4 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 27.3 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 18.2. Liner schedules on the lane quote 32 to 60 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 74 sailings by 10 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 Cape of Good Hope instead. That route is 14,263 nautical miles, 6,386 more, and adds about 19.0 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.

597 nm of the route, 8% of it, lies inside 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 GRPIR to CNSHA start at $2,820 for a 20GP and $4,350 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 Shanghai (CNSHA) 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 65 port to port routes from Piraeus in this directory, Shanghai is the 52nd shortest. Closer destinations include Ningbo (7,763 nm), Manzanillo (7,508 nm) and Kaohsiung (7,339 nm).