Santos to Piraeus shipping route.

Ships leaving Santos for Piraeus head north east and cover a sea distance of 5,913 nautical miles (10,951 km), on a direct course. The straight line between the ports is 10,026 km; coastlines and shipping lanes add the rest. 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 17.6 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 20.5 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 13.7. 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 Piraeus to plan the full ocean transit time.

1,454 nm of the route, 25% 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 Piraeus move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Piraeus (GRPIR) carriers give about 6.75 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, Piraeus is the 25th shortest. Closer destinations include Montreal (5,830 nm), Hamburg (5,750 nm) and Bremerhaven (5,704 nm).