WASHINGTON D.C.: The World Shipping Council is pressing governments to close a regulatory gap that allows large volumes of small lithium-ion batteries to travel in containers without carriers being told what is inside, as per Reports. The industry body argues that the exemption, which permits compliant shipments of small batteries to go undeclared, leaves operators unable to manage a fire risk that has already produced serious incidents.
Lithium-ion batteries carry well-known fire hazards and rank among the cargoes that container lines and roll-on/roll-off operators watch most closely. Shipments that are improperly declared and moved outside the rules of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code present a substantial danger. Under the current framework, however, a shipper may pack an unlimited number of small batteries into a standard container without notifying the carrier, a practice the council describes as a fully compliant loophole.
Estimates from the International Energy Agency cited in the report put the growth in lithium-ion batteries in circulation at six times the level of five years earlier, with demand projected to double by the end of the decade. Clean-energy transport, utility-scale grid storage, personal electronics and a wide range of industrial and commercial uses have all contributed to rising demand for the technology, which is valued for durability and high energy density. When such batteries short out or overheat, they can ignite and release toxic, flammable gases rapidly, and the resulting fire is hard to put out. Aboard a vessel, the hazard has to be controlled through safe-stowage practices.
The IMDG Code sets out specific requirements for declaring and stowing dangerous goods, including large lithium-ion battery packs. Smaller batteries can fall under an exception known as SP188 when they satisfy certain testing criteria, meaning they need not be disclosed or shipped with the same precautions even when many are packed together.
The council illustrates the scale of the issue with a consumer-electronics example: a standard 40-foot container might hold as many as 4,200 laptops, whose combined battery capacity could match that of three to four electric vehicles. Electric vehicle battery packs are a recognized and regulated fire risk that can be reduced to an acceptable level when handled properly. The equivalent battery content in a laptop shipment could be delivered by a shipper without the container line knowing, making proper management impossible. The council says this has led to known incidents and must change.
Joe Kramek, President and CEO of the World Shipping Council, said that hazards which remain invisible can produce serious consequences. He noted that batteries shipped under the exemption have caused significant container fires, endangering people, ports, ships and the marine environment, and said that as battery shipments keep growing a better solution is needed so these cargoes become visible and their risks can be managed properly.
The report recounts an earlier case in which a 40-foot container filled with battery-powered flashlights caught fire on the deck of the boxship X-Press Godavari in September 2020 and burned for more than three days, continuing even after it was moved onto the pier. The container had likely overheated during transport as deck cargo in 86 F conditions, a situation probably worsened by direct sunlight at its stowage position. The ambient temperature was already at the upper storage limit recommended by the original equipment manufacturer, and the extended sun exposure went against the manufacturer’s guidance. The roughly 7,000-kilogram combined mass of lithium-ion batteries in the cargo likely ignited as a result. The shipment complied with SP188 and was not declared as dangerous goods, as the IMDG Code exception permits. Had the operator been informed, the container would likely have been stowed appropriately and the fire might not have happened.
To tackle the problem, the council has submitted a proposal to the International Maritime Organization that would cap the maximum weight or capacity of batteries allowed in a single container under the SP188 exemption. Beyond that threshold, battery packs would have to be declared. The proposal is scheduled for review next week at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers.
