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CNSHA ZADUR
Machinery

Shanghai to Durban freight CO2 emissions

One tonne of cargo shipped Shanghai (CNSHA) to Durban (ZADUR) by sea emits 99 kg CO2e well-to-wake at GLEC v3.2 default factors. The same tonne by air emits 6,992 kg — roughly 71x the sea number.

Lane noteAsia-Southern Africa trunk transits the Malacca Strait and Indian Ocean before South African approach — 22-24 day sailings. Durban is the largest African container port; Chinese machinery and automotive parts dominate the headhaul.

Per-tonne CO2e by mode

Sea freight

Container ship 8,000+ TEU

99
kg CO2e
Distance
13,200 km
Factor (WTW)
7.5 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 13,200 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 container 8,000-15,000 TEU (Post-Panamax, WTW)

Air freight

Long-haul belly cargo

6,992
kg CO2e
Distance
11,500 km
Factor (WTW)
608 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 11,500 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 long-haul belly cargo allocation (WTW)

Mode comparison

On the Shanghai to Durban lane, air freight emits about 71 times more CO2e per tonne than sea freight at GLEC v3.2 defaults. The gap is driven by the WTW factor difference between long-haul belly cargo (608 g CO2e/tkm) and a Container ship 8,000+ TEU (7.5 g CO2e/tkm), partly offset by the shorter great-circle air routing.

Try this in the calculator

These numbers are GLEC v3.2 defaults at 1 tonne. Change weight, vessel class, or load factor in the calculator and see the per-mode CO2e update under ISO 14083:2023 data quality tiers.

Methodology references

Need primary-data emissions for Shanghai to Durban?

The EcoFreight API ingests AIS, bunker delivery notes, and shipment manifests to return ISO 14083 Tier 3 primary-data numbers for the same lane. Free tier covers 1,000 calculations per month.