【Cargo】Guidelines for the Safe Carriage of Charcoal in Containers

CINS※ published Guidelines for the Safe Carriage of Charcoal in Containers in conjunction with the International Group of P& I Clubs and the TT Club.
※CINS：Cargo Incident Notification System. System which collect and analysis cargo and container incident.

From the incident records created by CINS members, it is known that there were at least 68 fire
incidents on board ships during the period between January 2015 and December 2022. These CINS
data are incomplete, but have exclusively involved consignments of Charcoal that were produced to be a
used as a fuel intended for burning. Most of these incidents also arose from consignments that had been
misdeclared and therefore the carrier was not aware of the hazards presented.

In this Guideline, it is explained about Charcoal hazardous, categories, IMDG CODE and recommended package procedure, etc.

As you may know, container ship cargoes are delivered to vessels with seals so that crew usually cannot check the inside condition of the container, thus there are not many protective measures to do for crew. However, there are some guidance for ship loading as below.

• Charcoal shall be transported in compliance with the stowage and segregation requirements set out
  in the IMDG Code. This requires the cargo to be protected from sources of heat (SW1) and kept as
  cool as practically possible (H2).
• However, in excess of IMDG requirements, accessible stowage ON DECK is strongly recommended under these guidelines. Further, containers packed with Charcoal should be protected from a direct sunlight.
• A stowage under deck could be considered if an autonomous device with automatic triggering
  capable of putting out a fire without external action is placed within the container. However, fire fighting with CO2 is unlikely to be effective and a container stowed under deck may be difficult to access.

Please find attached Guideline.