Seattle to Sydney shipping route.

The shipping route from Seattle, United States to Sydney, Australia covers 6,897 nautical miles port to port, on a direct course. On a globe the two ports sit 12,472 km apart, so the ship sails 1.02 times the straight line distance. No canals or major straits on this leg, the ship stays close to the direct line.

At sea, the voyage lasts 23.9 days at 12 knots, 20.5 days at 14 knots and 16.0 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 Seattle and Sydney to plan the full ocean transit time.

775 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.

Container freight rates on Seattle to Sydney move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Sydney (AUSYD) carriers give about 8 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, Sydney is the 27th shortest. Closer destinations include Ho Chi Minh City (6,683 nm), Haiphong (6,353 nm) and Auckland (6,338 nm).