Shanghai to Gdansk shipping route.

The shipping route from Shanghai, China to Gdansk, Poland covers 11,417 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 7,977 km apart, so the ship sails 2.65 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Suez Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Strait of Gibraltar, so canal transit fees and waiting time at the canal are part of every voyage.

Shipping time depends on speed. At 14 knots, a common container ship service speed, the passage takes 34.0 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 39.6 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 26.4. Liner schedules on the lane quote 36 to 66 days port to port, because the services call at other ports and some transship. Over the last 30 days we counted 65 sailings by 8 carriers (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM and Hapag-Lloyd).

The shortest route goes through the Red Sea. Since attacks on shipping began there in late 2023, many carriers send ships via Panama Canal instead. That route is 14,198 nautical miles, 2,781 more, and adds about 8.3 days at 14 knots. Longer voyages burn more fuel and tie up more ships, which is why freight rates on Red Sea lanes jumped when the diversions started.

3,185 nm of the route, 28% of it, lies inside North Sea ECA, Baltic 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.

Recent freight rates for CNSHA to PLGDN start at $1,835 for a 20GP and $2,935 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 Gdansk (PLGDN) carriers give about 7.5 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 Shanghai in this directory, Gdansk is the 63rd shortest. Closer destinations include Buenos Aires (11,304 nm), Santos (11,100 nm) and Gothenburg (11,021 nm).