Rotterdam to Incheon shipping route.

The shipping route from Rotterdam, Netherlands to Incheon, South Korea covers 10,981 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 8,607 km apart, so the ship sails 2.36 times the straight line distance. 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.

At sea, the voyage lasts 38.1 days at 12 knots, 32.7 days at 14 knots and 25.4 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 Rotterdam and Incheon to plan the full ocean transit time.

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Panama Canal sails 13,475 nm instead of 10,981 nm and spends roughly 7.4 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,341 nm of the route, 21% 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.

Container freight rates on Rotterdam to Incheon move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Incheon (KRINC) carriers give about 10 free days before demurrage and detention charges start, so plan the truck or rail pickup before the box lands.

Of the 60 port to port routes from Rotterdam in this directory, Incheon is the 54th shortest. Closer destinations include Busan (10,912 nm), Qingdao (10,853 nm) and Shanghai (10,589 nm).