Shipping to and from South Africa

Last Updated: 17 April 2025

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 and 23 December 2024, please note that there have been further updates, primarily related to the packing and stuffing requirements. With effect from 01 May 2025. every shipment of charcoal must be completely vacuum packed with a thermal jacket, provided by the shipper's preferred Maersk Recommended supplier.

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 with 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.

Important to note - Effective 20 August 2019, all customers who mis declare 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

There is a list of requirements that need to be met to obtain loading acceptance to export charcoal with Maersk. Below please find a comprehensive outline of the requirements as well as any additional information pertinent to the matter.

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.

Circumstances under which we DO NOT accept this commodity:

• As dangerous goods
• In bulk
• If used for waterpipes / shisha / hookah / Nargila or similar
• Wet charcoal/ Contaminated charcoal
• instant charcoal/instant grill/ instant BBQ
• charcoal Scrap/ small particles/ fraction/ dust & fines <50mm
• charcoal packaging more than 50KG (ex. Namibia packing more than 20kg)
• In reefer (both live and non-operating)
• If VSA (Partner) policy TC owners/ Feeder operator’s policy prohibits.

Circumstances under which we accept this commodity:

• Charcoal can be shipped as non-dangerous provided fulfills the IMDG special provisions 925.
• In closed container only, with packagings of not more than 50 kg.
• Shipments from Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Namibia, South Africa must follow additional restrictions.
• For other vessel operators it will be subject to their own rules.

Special restrictions for Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Namibia, South Africa:

• Acceptable only from pre-approved shipper.
• Self-heating certificate is acceptable only from Maersk nominated Lab. Certificate should not be older than 3 months of validity and accompanied accreditation letter from country of origin.
• Vanning certificate is acceptable only from Maersk nominated Surveyors.

The following documentation needs to be supplied in order to make the 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 Test 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 porcess, 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.
   • 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 detail information about company when started, what kind of business, turnover, product information, use of commodity, Production process, Company website, etc.)

5. Weathering Certificate

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

   • Confirmation of weathering process with refrence to date of completion pf 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.
   • Charcoal packaging start and end date with photos of cargo temprature.
   • The material shall be packed into packagings 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 an official and independent Marine Surveyor 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.Vanning Certificate must mention booking number + container number.
   Following criteria must be checked and confirmed:

   • Container is packed in accordance with IMDG code and CTU packing guide.
   • As per Maersk Policy the consignment is Vacuum packed with a Thermal Jacket supplied by Shipper’s preferred Maersk Recommended Supplier (Supplier name).
   • 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 is 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

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 signed the document.

9. Packing & Stuffing Remarks:

   With effect from the date listed below, every shipment of charcoal must be completely vacuum packed with a thermal jacket, provided by the shipper's preferred Maersk Recommended supplier listed below.

After booking acceptance (Prior to container load):

After receiving the booking confirmation from Maersk and packing the container, 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 discrepancies 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
• Ngqura container terminal
• Port Elizabeth container terminal
• Multi-purpose terminal point

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

Always Safe Never Sorry. While we always do our utmost to take good care of your cargo, things can go wrong. Therefore we are glad to introduce you to our new solution to keep the value of your cargo protected from logistics-related risks. Value Protect provides alternative carriage terms that offer higher recovery limits on claims. At competitive prices and all in a single place.

The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) is an independent service provider of quality certification and cold chain management services for producers and exporters of perishable food products.

Click to access PPECB

Remote Container Management (RCM) interface turns your reefer container into a digitally connected device capable of transmitting its location, power status, temperature, humidity and air supply

Click to access RCM

New Feature: ETD Change Indicator Now Available on Maersk.com

We are pleased to introduce the ETD Change Indicator on the Shipment Details page at Maersk.com. This enhancement provides customers with real-time visibility when there is a significant change to their shipment schedule.

1. A notification will appear when:
• The Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) for the first vessel (water leg) has changed by 12 hours or more, and
• A revised booking confirmation document has not yet been issued since the change.
2. The notification is accessible to all parties associated with the shipment, ensuring transparency and shared visibility across stakeholders.
3. Users have the option to subscribe to transport plan change notifications directly from this prompt - making it easier to stay up to date with any future schedule adjustments.
4. The notification will not appear if the vessel has already departed, ensuring only relevant and timely information is presented.

This feature is part of our commitment to enhancing the customer experience through timely updates and smarter digital tools.

Visit your Shipment Details page on Maersk.com to explore this functionality and take control of your cargo journey.

Introducing Revised Booking Confirmation on Maersk.com

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Revised Booking Confirmation feature on the Shipment Details page on Maersk.com. This enhancement is designed to provide greater transparency and convenience for our customers when shipment schedules change.

1. Customers can now easily click and download a revised booking confirmation document when there is a change to the Estimated Time of Departure (ETD).
2. The option to download the revised document appears:
• If the booking is confirmed and
• If the ETD of the first vessel (water leg) changes by 12 hours or more, and
• If a new booking confirmation has not already been issued since the ETD change.
3. The tooltip provides a comparison between the updated ETD and the previously confirmed ETD, giving users clear visibility into the changes as illustrated in the screenshot below.
4. The prompt and feature are only made available to the Booked by & Price owner party.
5. If the ETD changes again, the download option will reappear - provided a revised booking confirmation has not already been issued through another channel.
6. The newly generated confirmation will include key shipment tasks and deadlines to help customers stay informed and in control.
7. Each download action is logged, with an entry recorded in the action log on the shipment details as: “Revised booking confirmation downloaded.”

This feature went live on 19 May 2024 and is part of our continued efforts to enhance customer experience and drive digital efficiency.

Explore this new functionality today by visiting your Shipment Details page on Maersk.com.