Freight News, Sea


Shipping Council calls for end to lithium battery loophole

[ September 10, 2026   //   ]

The World Shipping Council (WSC) is calling on governments to address a gap in international dangerous goods rules that allows shippers to stuff thousands of lithium batteries into containers without telling the carrier.

WSC says that Special Provision 188 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code exempts smaller batteries from certain requirements when they meet specified testing, packaging and capacity criteria but there is no limit on how many exempt batteries can be consolidated in one container. A container carrying around 4,200 laptops could therefore contain approximately 416 kWh of stored energy, equivalent to three or four electric vehicles, without requiring dangerous goods documentation or placarding.

WSC warns that cargo fires remain a persistent risk at sea. Six times as many lithium-ion batteries were shipped in 2025 than in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, and demand is expected to double again by 2030. Latest statistics by insurer Allianz show that a container ship fire occurs every 17 days.

WSC president and chief executive Joe Kramek said: “Right now, a container can be packed with thousands of lithium batteries and still travel without being declared as dangerous goods. The SP188 exemption was intended to simplify the transport of individual devices with small batteries, not to make entire container loads invisible.”

WSC says that batteries are transported safely every day when they are properly declared and the risks are appropriately managed. The problem arises when carriers, crews, ports and emergency responders do not know the hazard is present.

WSC has been supported by five governments and a broad coalition of industry organisations in submitting a paper for consideration by the IMO. It sets out a potential maximum container-level threshold, above which battery shipments would have to be declared and potentially placarded.

Governments will consider the issue at the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers, meeting in London on 14-18 September.

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