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Vessbook

Port-to-port sea distance

Houston to Mailiao distance

The sea distance from Houston (United States) to Mailiao (Taiwan) is about 10,530 nautical miles (19,501 km), via the Panama Canal. At 12 knots that is about 36 days 13 hours at sea.

Distance

10,530 nm

19,501 km

Sea days @ 12 kn

36.6

36 days 13 hours

ECA miles

1,097 nm

10% of the route

Canals & straits

1

Panama Canal

Sea days by speed

SpeedOne wayRound voyage
10 knots43.9 days87.7 days
11 knots39.9 days79.8 days
12 knots36.6 days73.1 days
13 knots33.7 days67.5 days
14 knots31.3 days62.7 days
15 knots29.2 days58.5 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

10,530 nm

36.6 days at 12 kn · Panama Canal · 1,097 nm in ECA

See it on the map

Avoiding the Panama Canal

13,528 nm+2,998 nm

47.0 days at 12 kn · Strait of Gibraltar · Suez Canal · Bab-el-Mandeb · Malacca Strait · 3,911 nm in ECA

See it on the map

Via the Cape (avoiding both Suez and Panama)

14,719 nm+4,189 nm

51.1 days at 12 kn · Sunda Strait · 1,068 nm in ECA

See it on the map
  • 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 13,528 nm, 2,998 nm (about 10.4 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 Houston from Mailiao by sea?

The sea distance from Houston to Mailiao is about 10,530 nautical miles (19,501 km), via the Panama Canal.

How long does a tanker take to sail from Houston to Mailiao?

About 36 days 13 hours at 12 knots, or 31.3 days at 14 knots. That is steaming time only; add time for port calls, canal transits and weather.

Which canals and straits does the Houston–Mailiao 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 1,097 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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