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CNSHA SGSIN
Transshipment cargo

Shanghai to Singapore freight CO2 emissions

One tonne of cargo shipped Shanghai (CNSHA) to Singapore (SGSIN) by sea emits 17.6 kg CO2e well-to-wake at GLEC v3.2 default factors. The same tonne by air emits 2,432 kg — roughly 138x the sea number.

Lane noteSingapore is the largest transshipment port in the world; most cargo on this lane is feeder relay for onward Asia-Europe or Asia-North America voyages. Roughly 7-9 day sailings.

Per-tonne CO2e by mode

Sea freight

Container ship 8,000-18,000 TEU

17.6
kg CO2e
Distance
4,400 km
Factor (WTW)
4 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 4,400 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 container 15,000-24,000 TEU (ULCV, WTW)

Air freight

Long-haul belly cargo

2,432
kg CO2e
Distance
4,000 km
Factor (WTW)
608 g CO2e/tkm
Per shipment
1 t × 4,000 km
Factor source
GLEC v3.2 long-haul belly cargo allocation (WTW)

Mode comparison

On the Shanghai to Singapore lane, air freight emits about 138 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 8,000-18,000 TEU (4 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 Singapore?

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.