The Asia–Europe lane is the world’s largest container trade by volume, linking Chinese and South Asian export hubs to the North European gateways of Hamburg, Antwerp and the Baltic.
The 90 port-to-port routes of this lane, ranked by carrier coverage at both ends. Each links to the full distance page with route map and speed table.
| Route | Distance |
|---|---|
| Shanghai Hamburg | 10,842 nm |
| Shanghai Antwerpen | 10,569 nm |
| Qingdao Hamburg | 11,106 nm |
| Qingdao Antwerpen | 10,834 nm |
| Ningbo Hamburg | 10,728 nm |
| Ningbo Antwerpen | 10,456 nm |
| Xiamen Hamburg | 10,292 nm |
| Shanghai Bremerhaven | 10,796 nm |
| Xingang Hamburg | 11,397 nm |
| Xiamen Antwerpen | 10,020 nm |
| Yantian Hamburg | 10,088 nm |
| Xingang Antwerpen | 11,124 nm |
| Yantian Antwerpen | 9,816 nm |
| Dalian Hamburg | 11,249 nm |
| Qingdao Bremerhaven | 11,060 nm |
| Dalian Antwerpen | 10,977 nm |
| Shekou Hamburg | 10,084 nm |
| Chiwan Hamburg | 10,084 nm |
| Ningbo Bremerhaven | 10,682 nm |
| Shekou Antwerpen | 9,812 nm |
Westbound flows dominate the lane: consumer goods, electronics and machinery from Asia feed European distribution networks, while the backhaul carries chemicals, food products and recyclables. Virtually every service is routed through the Strait of Malacca, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Suez Canal and Gibraltar, which makes the lane highly sensitive to Red Sea security and Suez capacity: when carriers divert around the Cape of Good Hope, transit times stretch by roughly ten days and effective capacity shrinks across the entire trade.
Safecube gives you door-to-door visibility on container shipments, with live vessel positions and predictive ETAs on every trade lane.
Seadex covers 90 port-to-port routes on the Asia – Europe lane, with sea distances ranging from 8,041 to 11,704 nautical miles.
The average route on the Asia – Europe lane is 10,459 nautical miles, which at typical commercial speeds of 14–18 knots means roughly 24.2 to 31.1 days of sailing, excluding port calls.
Routes on the Asia – Europe lane transit the following chokepoints: Suez Canal, Strait of Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Strait of Malacca.