The World Shipping Council (WSC) is calling on governments to address a gap in international dangerous goods rules. This gap allows containers carrying thousands of lithium batteries to be transported without carriers being informed of the hazard.
The call comes as battery transport grows rapidly and cargo fires remain a persistent risk at sea. Global lithium-ion battery deployment in 2025 was six times higher than in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, with battery demand expected to double by 2030. Latest statistics by insurer Allianz show that a container ship fire occurs every seventeen days.
Also read: WSC: Dual-fuel liner fleet to pass 1200 vessels
No limit on the number of batteries per container
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. However, there is no limit on how many exempt batteries can be consolidated in one container.
A container carrying around 4200 laptops could therefore contain approximately 416 kWh of stored energy, equivalent to three or four electric vehicles, without requiring dangerous goods documentation or container placarding.
‘Right now, a container can be packed with thousands of lithium batteries and still travel without being declared as dangerous goods,’ says Joe Kramek, President and CEO of the WSC. ‘The SP188 exemption was intended to simplify the transport of individual devices with small batteries, not to make entire container loads invisible.’
Also read: WSC program to detect dangerous goods and prevent ship fires
Knowing when there is a hazard present
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. Without that information, carriers cannot properly assess the risk, choose appropriate stowage, separate the container from other cargo or prepare an informed emergency response.
Kramek: ‘We know what can happen when hazards are invisible. Batteries shipped under the exemption have caused serious container fires, putting people, ports, ships and the marine environment at risk.’
Also read: ‘Misdeclared dangerous goods remain threat to shipping’
WSC obtains government and industry support
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.
‘The current rules are not working as intended,’ states Kramek. ‘As battery shipments continue to grow, we need a better solution that makes these cargoes visible and allows the risks to be properly managed.’
Governments will consider the issue at the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers, meeting in London from 14 to 18 September 2026.
Also read: WSC: 576 container lost at sea in 2024, well below average
