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Port-to-port sea distance

Corpus Christi to Ningbo distance

The sea distance from Corpus Christi (United States) to Ningbo (China) is about 10,331 nautical miles (19,132 km), via the Panama Canal. At 12 knots that is about 35 days 21 hours at sea.

Distance

10,331 nm

19,132 km

Sea days @ 12 kn

35.9

35 days 21 hours

ECA miles

1,033 nm

10% of the route

Canals & straits

1

Panama Canal

Sea days by speed

SpeedOne wayRound voyage
10 knots43.0 days86.1 days
11 knots39.1 days78.3 days
12 knots35.9 days71.7 days
13 knots33.1 days66.2 days
14 knots30.7 days61.5 days
15 knots28.7 days57.4 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

10,331 nm

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

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Avoiding the Panama Canal

13,887 nm+3,557 nm

48.2 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)

15,099 nm+4,769 nm

52.4 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 13,887 nm, 3,557 nm (about 12.3 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 Ningbo by sea?

The sea distance from Corpus Christi to Ningbo is about 10,331 nautical miles (19,132 km), via the Panama Canal.

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

About 35 days 21 hours at 12 knots, or 30.7 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–Ningbo 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 10% 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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