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Port-to-port sea distance

Corpus Christi to Chiba distance

The sea distance from Corpus Christi (United States) to Chiba (Japan) is about 9,367 nautical miles (17,348 km), via the Panama Canal. At 12 knots that is about 32 days 13 hours at sea.

Distance

9,367 nm

17,348 km

Sea days @ 12 kn

32.5

32 days 13 hours

ECA miles

1,033 nm

11% of the route

Canals & straits

1

Panama Canal

Sea days by speed

SpeedOne wayRound voyage
10 knots39.0 days78.1 days
11 knots35.5 days71.0 days
12 knots32.5 days65.1 days
13 knots30.0 days60.0 days
14 knots27.9 days55.8 days
15 knots26.0 days52.0 days

Steaming time only, with no allowance for weather, canal waiting or port time. The round voyage assumes the ship ballasts back on the same route.

Routes compared

Shortest route

9,367 nm

32.5 days at 12 kn · Panama Canal · 1,033 nm in ECA

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Avoiding the Panama Canal

14,794 nm+5,427 nm

51.4 days at 12 kn · Strait of Gibraltar · Suez Canal · Bab-el-Mandeb · Malacca Strait · 3,968 nm in ECA

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Via the Cape (avoiding both Suez and Panama)

15,970 nm+6,603 nm

55.5 days at 12 kn · Sunda Strait · 426 nm in ECA

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  • The Panama Canal's Neopanamax locks take a maximum draft of 15.2 m, so VLCCs and laden Suezmaxes cannot use it. Without Panama the voyage is 14,794 nm, 5,427 nm (about 18.8 days at 12 knots) longer.

Voyage estimates by ship size

About this trade

US Gulf crude exports. US shale crude out of Corpus Christi, Houston and the LOOP to Europe and Asia, often reverse-lightered onto VLCCs offshore.

Typical ship sizes
VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax
Related benchmark routes
TD22 (USG–China VLCC), TD25 (USG–UKC Aframax)

Questions

How far is Corpus Christi from Chiba by sea?

The sea distance from Corpus Christi to Chiba is about 9,367 nautical miles (17,348 km), via the Panama Canal.

How long does a tanker take to sail from Corpus Christi to Chiba?

About 32 days 13 hours at 12 knots, or 27.9 days at 14 knots. That is steaming time only; add time for port calls, canal transits and weather.

Which canals and straits does the Corpus Christi–Chiba route pass?

The shortest route passes the Panama Canal. Alternative routings are listed above for ships that cannot or will not use them.

How much of the voyage is inside an Emission Control Area?

About 1,033 nm, or 11% of the voyage, is inside an ECA, where ships must burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or use a scrubber.

Terms on this page

Distances are calculated by Vessbook on a modelled global shipping-lane network for a tanker at 12 m draft, from berth area to berth area.

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