Santos to Marsaxlokk shipping route.

The shipping route from Santos, Brazil to Marsaxlokk, Malta covers 5,465 nautical miles port to port, on a direct course. On a globe the two ports sit 9,221 km apart, so the ship sails 1.10 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 16.3 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 19.0 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 12.6. 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 Santos and Marsaxlokk to plan the full ocean transit time.

1,011 nm of the route, 18% 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.

Container freight rates on Santos to Marsaxlokk move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Marsaxlokk (MTMAR) 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 Santos in this directory, Marsaxlokk is the 18th shortest. Closer destinations include London Gateway (5,427 nm), Felixstowe (5,425 nm) and Genoa (5,340 nm).