WSC urges tighter battery cargo rules as container fire risks grow

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The World Shipping Council is calling on governments to close a gap in international dangerous goods rules that can allow containers packed with thousands of lithium batteries to move without carriers being formally informed of the hazard.

The proposal comes as lithium ion battery volumes continue to rise across global supply chains and concerns grow over fires aboard container ships. Global lithium ion battery deployment in 2025 was six times higher than in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, while battery demand is expected to double by 2030.

Insurer Allianz estimates that a container ship fire occurs every 17 days.

The issue centres on Special Provision 188 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.

SP188 exempts smaller batteries from certain dangerous goods requirements when they meet specified testing, packaging and capacity conditions. However, the provision does not impose a limit on how many exempt batteries can be consolidated inside a single container.

That creates an unusual situation. A shipment may consist entirely of individually compliant batteries while collectively representing a significant concentration of stored energy.

According to WSC, a container carrying around 4,200 laptops could contain approximately 416 kWh of stored energy, comparable with the battery capacity of three or four electric vehicles, without requiring dangerous goods documentation or container placarding.

Joe Kramek, WSC President and CEO, said the exemption was designed to simplify the movement of individual devices containing small batteries rather than make entire container loads effectively invisible to carriers.

“Right now, a container can be packed with thousands of lithium batteries and still travel without being declared as dangerous goods,” Kramek said.

WSC said batteries are routinely transported safely when they are correctly declared and the associated risks are properly managed.

The concern is what happens when vessel operators, crews, terminals and emergency responders do not know that a large concentration of batteries is inside a container.

Without that information, carriers may be unable to factor the cargo into risk assessments, select appropriate stowage positions, separate it from other cargo or prepare suitable emergency response measures.

“We know what can happen when hazards are invisible,” Kramek said. “Batteries shipped under the exemption have caused serious container fires, putting people, ports, ships and the marine environment at risk.”

WSC has secured support from five governments and a wider coalition of industry organisations for a submission to the International Maritime Organization.

The proposal sets out a possible maximum container level threshold. Battery shipments exceeding that threshold would have to be declared and could also require placarding.

The approach would retain the exemption for smaller shipments while making containers carrying larger concentrations of batteries visible to carriers and other parties handling the cargo.

Governments are due to consider the issue when the IMO Sub Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers meets in London from September 14 to 18, 2026.

“The current rules are not working as intended,” Kramek said. “As battery shipments continue to grow, we need a better solution that makes these cargoes visible and allows the risks to be properly managed.”

^{Source: The World Shipping Council}