Safe carriage of charcoal in containers
The Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) Charcoal Work Group has updated its “Guidelines for the Safe Carriage of Charcoal in Containers”, reflecting the updated IMDG Code requirements, Britannia P&I Club has highlighted.
The 2024 edition of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code included changes in the requirements applying to charcoal. This edition, incorporating Amendment 42-24, became voluntary from 1 January 2025 and will become mandatory from 1 January 2026. According to Britannia Club, charcoal as a cargo presents unique stowage and handling requirements and requires strict safety protocols. In addition to the fire hazard, misdeclaration is known to result in the carrier being unaware of the risk.
Understanding the risk of charcoal transport
The primary hazard associated with charcoal is self-heating. If the heat cannot be dissipated quickly enough due to the thermal insulating properties of carbon, then the cargo temperature may rise further, possibly leading to self-ignition and spontaneous combustion.
The likelihood of spontaneous combustion in charcoal may be further affected by: - Wetting of the cargo, generating additional heat in an exothermic process
- Presence of additives such as ignition accelerants or flammable solids – typical in certain charcoal products, for example charcoal in tablet form used for water pipes (Nargila, Shisha, Hookah). This may result in lower ignition temperature, contributing to a fire incident
- Chemically unstable condition caused by the presence of organic material which did not undergo complete pyrolysis.
Charcoal may also pose other hazards: - Explosion: charcoal dust is combustible and can form a flammable or explosive atmosphere
- Toxicity: charcoal can release carbon monoxide (CO), particularly dangerous in enclosed spaces.
Charcoal and classification of carbon cargo
As a substance liable to spontaneous combustion, charcoal is designated as Class 4.2 in the IMDG Code. The forthcoming edition of the IMDG Code requires that charcoal should always be declared and carried as dangerous goods. In the Dangerous Goods List of the IMDG Code, charcoal is listed under the proper shipping name (PSN) of CARBON. The correct declaration for charcoal is: UN 1361: CARBON, animal or vegetable origin. The IMDG Code classifies carbon cargoes in three categories, which may result in confusion and lead to misdeclaration of the cargo.
THE REPORT | MAR 2025 | ISSUE 111 | 97
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