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Port-to-port sea distance

Ras Tanura to Qingdao distance

The sea distance from Ras Tanura (Saudi Arabia) to Qingdao (China) is about 6,237 nautical miles (11,552 km), via the Strait of Hormuz and Malacca Strait. At 12 knots that is about 21 days 16 hours at sea.

Distance

6,237 nm

11,552 km

Sea days @ 12 kn

21.7

21 days 16 hours

ECA miles

0 nm

No ECA on route

Canals & straits

2

Strait of Hormuz · Malacca Strait

Sea days by speed

SpeedOne wayRound voyage
10 knots26.0 days52.0 days
11 knots23.6 days47.3 days
12 knots21.7 days43.3 days
13 knots20.0 days40.0 days
14 knots18.6 days37.1 days
15 knots17.3 days34.7 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

6,237 nm

21.7 days at 12 kn · Strait of Hormuz · Malacca Strait

See it on the map

Avoiding the Malacca Strait (via Sunda or Lombok)

6,842 nm+604 nm

23.8 days at 12 kn · Strait of Hormuz · Sunda Strait

See it on the map
  • Very deep-draft ships sometimes avoid the Malacca and Singapore straits and go through the Lombok or Sunda strait instead, which adds 604 nm (about 2.1 days at 12 knots).

Voyage estimates by ship size

About this trade

Arabian Gulf → Far East crude. Arabian Gulf crude to China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan is the benchmark VLCC trade and the single biggest source of long-haul tanker demand.

Typical ship sizes
VLCC, Suezmax
Related benchmark routes
TD3C (MEG–China VLCC)

Questions

How far is Ras Tanura from Qingdao by sea?

The sea distance from Ras Tanura to Qingdao is about 6,237 nautical miles (11,552 km), via the Strait of Hormuz and Malacca Strait.

How long does a tanker take to sail from Ras Tanura to Qingdao?

About 21 days 16 hours at 12 knots, or 18.6 days at 14 knots. That is steaming time only; add time for port calls, canal transits and weather.

Which canals and straits does the Ras Tanura–Qingdao route pass?

The shortest route passes the Strait of Hormuz and Malacca Strait. 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?

None. The whole route is outside Emission Control Areas, so the 0.50% global sulphur cap applies throughout.

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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