Seattle to Ningbo shipping route.

Seattle to Ningbo is a 5,196 nautical mile shipping route on a direct course, heading north west from the United States to China. That is 9,624 km of water against 9,302 km as the crow flies. No canals or major straits on this leg, the ship stays close to the direct line.

At sea, the voyage lasts 18.0 days at 12 knots, 15.5 days at 14 knots and 12.0 days at 18 knots. Liner schedules on the lane quote 16 to 32 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 33 sailings by 5 carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, MSC and OOCL).

548 nm of the route, 11% of it, lies inside North American 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 USSEA to CNNGB start at $5,791 for a 20GP and $8,296 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 Ningbo (CNNGB) carriers give about 7 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 Seattle in this directory, Ningbo is the 13th shortest. Closer destinations include Qingdao (5,156 nm), Shanghai (5,144 nm) and Incheon (5,110 nm).