Shipping to and from South Africa

Last Updated: 20 December 2024

AMEX

LOC: Africa
Service Code: 40

EUROPE

LOC: Africa
Service Code: 278

JAPAN-CHINA

LOC: Africa

Commodity

• Hazardous classes 1, 7 and 9, are all subject to approval before acceptance.
• Used Tyres acceptance subject to legitimate ITAC permit
• No acceptance on DG charcoal
• No acceptance of Asbestos

Weight & Measurement

Specifically for 20’ Containers:

24 TONS Maximum Payload for road haulage (inclusive of container tare weight)

22 TONS Maximum payload for railed containers (exclusive of container tare weight)

Specifically for 40’ Containers:

28 TONS Maximum payload for road haulage (inclusive of container tare weight)

29.4 TONS Maximum payload for railed containers (exclusive of container tare weight)

Overweight containers are subject to a fine imposed by the Government. Requests for movement of overweight cargo can be obtained from your nearest Maersk office.

Effective 1 July 2016 the Shipper (or its representative agent) will be required to include the Verified Gross Mass(VGM) when submitting the pre-advise via NAVIS. The Navis update will update all Maersk systems and no further system updates is required from the Shipper.

Special Cargoes- No restrictions on movement of containers to inland points and are subject to rates supplied by our Intermodal Dept and can be contacted thru your nearest Maersk Customer Service Teams.

Bill of Lading Clauses- No special clauses/restrictions apply.

45' Containers- No acceptance of 45' containers in South Africa.

Customs requirements- Customs documents (Cargo Dues + Bill of entry) are mandatory for Bill of Lading issue.

Maersk is committed to ensuring the overall safety of maritime transportation.

Therefore, in a continued effort to support the safety of our staff, your cargo, our vessels and the environment, we are constantly reviewing the charcoal acceptance policy.

In addition to the recent changes announced, effective 15 October 2024, please note that there have been further updates, primarily related to the requirements for the weathering process.

Please find the updated comprehensive outline of requirements that need to be met to obtain loading acceptance with Maersk for charcoal exports from South Africa. The changes will be effective for any new bookings placed on or after 23 December 2024.

Initial Acceptance

The local Maersk office will apply for acceptance to load either restaurant or barbeque charcoal from our principals on behalf of the charcoal producer.

Effective, 15 October, 2024 a charcoal manufacturer can only book a shipment once passing this initial acceptance process through a factory audit conducted by one of the following Maersk approved surveyors:

• D.G. Wigmore & Associates Marine Surveyors & Consultants
• Techni-Marine Surveyors
• Dynamic Marine Survey & Solutions
• Patterson & Associates (Pty) Ltd
• General & Marine Surveyors & Assessors

Customers who have not shipped charcoal wth Maersk before can contact the surveyors listed above to get the manufacturer audited. Maersk will then decide whether the manufacturer is eligible to ship charcoal or not with main reference to the initial company audit.

Prohibited charcoal is:

• Dangerous goods
• Wet charcoal
• Charcoal in bulk
• Instant grill
• Charcoal fines <50mm, Charcoal Dust
• Small particle/fraction
• Charcoal scrap
• Contaminated charcoal
• Packaging more than 50kg
• If cargo packed into 1 KG box
• Cargo is used for waterpipes / shisha / hookah / Nargila or similar
• On any VSA (Partner) vessel
• Acceptable in active reefer against written approval from Stowage team
• Non active reefer not allowed
• Exceeding 45 days total transit time; exception 55 days from Walvis Bay, Namibia

Important to note - Effective 20 August 2019, all customers who misdeclare their Dangerous Goods will be charged a Misdeclaration Fee of 5,000 USD per booking. Any additional costs that will result from taking corrective action (such as correcting the stowage to a safe position on board the vessel, etc.) will be charged in addition to this fee.

For example: A customer declares cargo as non-dangerous when it is in fact dangerous (i.e. the cargo is charcoal which is Class 4.2 but declared as “coconut products”, etc.)

Please refer to Maersk.com to review the policy on Dangerous Cargo Misdeclaration Fee. For ease of reference, this can be found here - Here

After initial acceptance, the following documentation needs to be supplied in order to make the booking application:

1. Material Safety Data Sheet

   The MSDS must have the same entity (producer) indicated as the Self-Heating Certificate, Weathering certificate, Shippers declaration and Commercial invoice. The MSDS must indicate the use of the charcoal (only one use).

2. Self-Heating Certificate

   • Laboratory conducting self heating test must be officially accredited.
   • Test certificate is invalid if sample was not collected by trained staff from laboratory.
   • Customer must request trained staff from laboratory to collect the sample for self heating test only after completion of the weathering process, i.e. after production the unpacked material was subjected to weathering (stored under cover, but in the open air) for a minimum period of 14 days before being packaged.
   • Self-Heating test certificate shall remain valid until the consignment completes the ocean passage and the validity shall not be more than six months and for Ex. Indonesia, Self-Heating test Certificate validity shall not be more than 3 months.

   The following must be availble on the SHT certificate:

   • Dated, signed and stamped on laboratories letterhead with test reference no.
   • Detailed information about cargo and customer.
   • Description of test, duration and tested cargo size.
   • 24 hours temperature diagram of oven and cargo temperature.
   • Conclusion as per IMDG code SP 925 - A consignment of carbon if it passes the tests for self-heating substances as reflected in the United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria (see 33.4.3.3.1), and is accompanied by a certificate from a laboratory accredited by the competent authority, stating that the product to be loaded has been correctly sampled by trained staff from that laboratory and that the sample was correctly tested and has passed the test.
   • Date of Production
   • Confirmation of weathering process with reference to Date of Completion of Charcoal production i.e. if after production the unpacked material was subjected to weathering (stored under cover, but in the open air) for a minimum period of 14 days before being packaged.

3. Accreditation letter of laboratory

   Official accreditation letter by the competent authority of the country of origin with proper date of expiry, signature, stamp and name of the authorise person who will sign the document.

4. Business Presentation

   The Business Presentation should indicate the type of charcoal produced as well as the intended use of said charcoal. This is submitted only once as part of the initial acceptance procedure. (We need Company Profile with detailed information about the company; when started, what kind of business, turnover, product information, use of commodity, Production process, Company website, etc.)

5. Weathering and Packing Certificate

   This certificate is to be issued by the producer with the following:

   • Confirmation of weathering process with reference to date of completion of charcoal production i.e. if after production the unpacked material was subjected to weathering (stored under cover, but in the open air) for a minimum period of 14 days before being packaged.
   • Photos and detailed information about weathering process with start and end date.
   • Dated, signed and stamped from shipper (real producer of the cargo) + Name of the person who will sign the document.
   • Date of Production.
   • Charcoal packaging start and end date with photos of cargo temprature.
   • The material shall be packed into packaging only when the temperature of the material does not exceed 40°C on the day of packing.
   • Booking number + container number.

6. Vanning Certificate

   The Vanning Certificate must be issued by one of the Maersk approved Marine Surveyors listed above, after a physical inspection of the vanning of the cargo, and must be dated, signed and stamped by same.

   The Shipper is reminded that any misdeclaration of information shall remain his responsibility. The Vanning Certificate must mention booking number + container number.

   The following criteria must be checked and confirmed:

   • Container is packed in accordance with IMDG code and CTU packing guide.
   • Packings are new, air tight, intact and suitable for the cargo.
   • Temperature of cargo is not exceeding ambient temperature by more than 5°C.
   • Packaging and interior atmosphere is clean and odourless, no presence of fumes or smoke
   • Sufficient photos :
   • Photos of cargo during stuffing container, incl. minimum one photo of the cargo without the outer packing.
   • Cargo temperature and Ambient Temperature photographs of each container.
   • Send us one door shut photograph as in one picture we wanted to see the commodity stuff inside the container + container no. (In this photo complete container must be visible along with its border and edges and the commodity inside must be clearly visible. The photos must be clicked straight and not in any other angle.
   • Weight of each bag.
   • Charcoal particle size in Millimeter.
   • Weight per bag and type of packing
   • Weight per bag must be 20kg only for Namibia
   • For Indonesia, South Africa, Namibia only: A 1 kg sample has been taken during stuffing and cargo has been identified as declared by shipper. The sample retained for minimum 3 months in surveyors office and is always available for Maersk review.

7. Shippers declaration

   Stating real end user and use of the cargo at final destination and must mention booking number + container number. Duly dated, signed and stamped on shipper’s letterhead with name of the authorised person who will signed the document

   Charcoal particle size in Millimeter.

8. Commercial invoice

   Must be on Cargo Manufacturers letter head with proper date, sign, stamp, Consignee details with name of the authorised person who will sign the document.

After booking acceptance (Prior to container load):

After receiving the booking confirmation from Maersk and packing the contianer, the customer will need to submit the shipping instruction with the mandatory details along with the above-mentioned 8 documents to Maersk’s documentation team.

Approval for container load will be given if all documents are consistent and no anomaly or misdeclaration is found.

In cases where documents are found to have discrepencies or are incomplete, the container will not be loaded and all costs and consequences are to be borne by shipper and/or booking party.

More detail of the Terms of Carriage can be found here.

The list below provides links to the latest terminal stack dates on the Transnet Website:

• Cape Town Combi Terminal
• Cape Town container terminal
• Durban container terminal pier 1
• Durban container terminal pier 2
• Multi-purpose terminal point
• Ngqura container terminal
• Port Elizabeth terminal

Please complete the registration form and send to za.export@maersk.com

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