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Required speed for an ETA

The speed you need to make to arrive at the pilot station, anchorage or berth at a set time, even when it is in another time zone.

nm
h
kn

Positive with you, negative against

h

Fill in the fields to see the result.

How it works

Required speed = distance to go / time to go. Both times are turned into UTC first (local − zone), so a pilot booked for 06:00 local in another zone is handled correctly. That is the speed over the ground; with a known current along the track, the log speed is that minus the current.

Keep a margin for traffic, weather and reduced speed in pilotage waters; check the result again as you go.

For training and cross-checking. Not a substitute for approved navigation equipment, nautical publications and the ship’s own procedures. Calculations run in your browser and nothing you type is stored; a PDF you download is made on our server and not kept.

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