Yokohama to Le Havre shipping route.

The shipping route from Yokohama, Japan to Le Havre, France covers 11,118 nautical miles port to port, via Suez Canal. On a globe the two ports sit 9,762 km apart, so the ship sails 2.11 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 33.1 days at sea. Slow steaming at 12 knots stretches it to 38.6 days, while 18 knots brings it down to 25.7. 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 Yokohama and Le Havre to plan the full ocean transit time.

Red Sea security changes the sea distance on this lane. A ship sent via Panama Canal sails 12,471 nm instead of 11,118 nm and spends roughly 4.0 extra days at sea. Ask your forwarder which routing the carrier uses: the booking price and the arrival date both depend on it.

2,159 nm of the route, 19% of it, lies inside North 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 Le Havre move with fuel prices, ship capacity and the season. Compare several carriers before booking: the cheapest sailing is often the slowest one. At Le Havre (FRLEH) 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 Yokohama in this directory, Le Havre is the 54th shortest. Closer destinations include Lagos (Apapa) (11,040 nm), Buenos Aires (11,016 nm) and Algeciras (9,932 nm).