Yokohama to Gothenburg shipping route.

The shipping route from Yokohama, Japan to Gothenburg, Sweden covers 11,748 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 8,564 km apart, so the ship sails 2.54 times the straight line distance. On the way the vessel passes Strait of Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca and Suez Canal, 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 35.0 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 40.8 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 27.2. 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 Yokohama and Gothenburg to plan the full ocean transit time.

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 12,957 nautical miles, 1,210 more, and adds about 3.6 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.

2,789 nm of the route, 24% 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.

Container freight rates on Yokohama to Gothenburg move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Gothenburg (SEGOT) carriers give about 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 Yokohama in this directory, Gothenburg is the 63rd shortest. Closer destinations include Santos (11,596 nm), Hamburg (11,569 nm) and Bremerhaven (11,523 nm).