Qingdao to Gothenburg shipping route.

The shipping route from Qingdao, China to Gothenburg, Sweden covers 11,285 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 7,652 km apart, so the ship sails 2.73 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.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 33.6 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 39.2 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 26.1. Liner schedules on the lane quote 5 to 59 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 2 sailings by 1 carrier (ONE).

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 13,813 nautical miles, 2,528 more, and adds about 7.5 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.

2,789 nm of the route, 25% 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 CNTAO to SEGOT start at $2,769 for a 20GP and $4,206 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 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 64 port to port routes from Qingdao in this directory, Gothenburg is the 60th shortest. Closer destinations include Hamburg (11,106 nm), Bremerhaven (11,060 nm) and Rotterdam (10,853 nm).