Dangerous Goods

Most people do not know their cargo is hazardous

Lithium batteries in a laptop shipment, aerosols in cosmetics, paint, adhesives, lab reagents, perfume, hand sanitiser, pool chemicals — all of these are regulated dangerous goods, and all of them regularly turn up in shipments declared as general cargo.

A misdeclaration is not a paperwork problem. It is grounds for the carrier to refuse the cargo, to fine the shipper, and in serious cases to hold whoever declared it liable for the consequences.

The nine classes

• 1 — Explosives · 2 — Gases · 3 — Flammable liquids
• 4 — Flammable solids · 5 — Oxidisers and organic peroxides
• 6 — Toxic and infectious substances · 7 — Radioactive material
• 8 — Corrosives · 9 — Miscellaneous, which is where lithium batteries sit

What changes by mode

The same substance is treated differently by sea and by air. IMDG governs ocean transport and IATA governs air, and IATA is substantially stricter: quantities that ship routinely in a container are forbidden in an aircraft hold.

That is why the mode decision for hazardous cargo has to come after the classification, not before it. We classify first, then tell you what each mode would actually allow.

What we handle

• Classification: UN number, class, packing group and proper shipping name
• UN-certified packaging, labelling and placarding
• The Dangerous Goods Declaration and the safety data sheet
• Permits and authorisations from the relevant Chilean authority
• Segregation planning, so incompatible classes do not travel together
• Road transport with certified drivers and equipment

Send us the safety data sheet first

Before anything else, send the SDS for the product. It carries the UN number, the class and the packing group, which is everything needed to tell you what is possible, at what cost and under what conditions.

Quoting hazardous cargo from a product description rather than an SDS is guesswork, and the place the guess gets corrected is the port.