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CNSHA NGAPP
Consumer electronics

Shanghai to Lagos freight CO2 emissions

One tonne of cargo shipped Shanghai (CNSHA) to Lagos (NGAPP) by sea emits 141.8 kg CO2e well-to-wake at GLEC v3.2 default factors. The same tonne by air emits 7,721.6 kg — roughly 54x the sea number.

Lane noteAsia-West Africa — typically routed via the Cape of Good Hope rather than Suez given the Nigerian destination, 28-30 day sailings. Apapa and Tin Can Island container terminals serve Lagos; berth congestion adds 5-10 days at port.

Per-tonne CO2e by mode

Sea freight

Container ship 8,000+ TEU

141.8
kg CO2e
Distance
18,900 km
Factor (WTW)
7.5 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 18,900 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 container 8,000-15,000 TEU (Post-Panamax, WTW)

Air freight

Long-haul belly cargo

7,721.6
kg CO2e
Distance
12,700 km
Factor (WTW)
608 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 12,700 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 long-haul belly cargo allocation (WTW)

Mode comparison

On the Shanghai to Lagos lane, air freight emits about 54 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 Lagos?

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.