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Port-to-port sea distance

Freeport to Ulsan distance

The sea distance from Freeport (United States) to Ulsan (South Korea) is about 9,870 nautical miles (18,279 km), via the Panama Canal. At 12 knots that is about 34 days 7 hours at sea.

Distance

9,870 nm

18,279 km

Sea days @ 12 kn

34.3

34 days 7 hours

ECA miles

1,067 nm

11% of the route

Canals & straits

1

Panama Canal

Sea days by speed

SpeedOne wayRound voyage
10 knots41.1 days82.3 days
11 knots37.4 days74.8 days
12 knots34.3 days68.5 days
13 knots31.6 days63.3 days
14 knots29.4 days58.8 days
15 knots27.4 days54.8 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

9,870 nm

34.3 days at 12 kn · Panama Canal · 1,067 nm in ECA

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Avoiding the Panama Canal

14,327 nm+4,457 nm

49.7 days at 12 kn · Strait of Gibraltar · Suez Canal · Bab-el-Mandeb · Malacca Strait · 3,925 nm in ECA

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Via the Cape (avoiding both Suez and Panama)

15,552 nm+5,682 nm

54.0 days at 12 kn · Sunda Strait · 1,082 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 14,327 nm, 4,457 nm (about 15.5 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 Freeport from Ulsan by sea?

The sea distance from Freeport to Ulsan is about 9,870 nautical miles (18,279 km), via the Panama Canal.

How long does a tanker take to sail from Freeport to Ulsan?

About 34 days 7 hours at 12 knots, or 29.4 days at 14 knots. That is steaming time only; add time for port calls, canal transits and weather.

Which canals and straits does the Freeport–Ulsan 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 1,067 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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