Which Shipping Lines Accept Coconut Charcoal (Living List)

By Mohamad Sinno, Charcoal Expert · Reviewed by Budi Hartanto, shipping specialist, 25 years in forwarding as of 2026 · Last updated 29 July 2026

The register as of July 2026: how many lines publish a position, and on what evidence

Ocean carriers split three ways on charcoal as of 29 July 2026: eight publish a position of their own — two of those prohibit it — one rests on this factory's bookings, and four have nothing retrievable. Every row states what it rests on, and when it was last checked.

Charcoal moves only as declared dangerous goods — UN 1361, Class 4.2. See how carrier charcoal policy changed through 2025 and what approval takes now. Each row prints its document's own date: a page reachable today can still describe a superseded rule.

How to read this register: three classes of evidence, and what each one entitles you to conclude

• The carrier's own document. A published charcoal or UN 1361 position, cited with whatever date and version it carries. Quotable to a booking desk — check it is still current.
• This factory's booking record. We have shipped it: experience, not the carrier's policy, and no predictor of your booking.
• Nothing retrievable. No charcoal position could be opened — a routing instruction, not a stance. Hence two dates per row: the document's, and ours.

Carrier-by-carrier: stance for Indonesian loading, conditions, evidence class and verification date

Each row gives the stance for Indonesian loading, its conditions, its evidence class, and two dates.

A carrier's general dangerous-goods clause is not a charcoal policy

A clause reserving the right to refuse dangerous goods is not a charcoal policy: it covers every Class 4.2 cargo equally and says nothing about UN 1361 from Indonesia. A charcoal position names charcoal, carbon, or UN 1361. Typeset in a table, an inference from general terms looks identical to a sourced position — which is where wrong rows come from. Our own PIL row shows why: no PIL charcoal position could be retrieved for this register, yet this factory has shipped declared UN 1361 charcoal with PIL from Jakarta — our booking record, not PIL's policy. Apply the test to any list, this one included: which document, and when?

What this register does not tell you

• Absence is not refusal — only that no position was retrieved. It is the set we looked for, not the set serving Indonesia.
• A booking-record row is ours alone: not that carrier's policy, not a prediction of your booking.
• Every row is true as of its verified date, and these positions move in months.
• Published acceptance is not carriage on a given sailing — partner, feeder and chartered vessels carry their own policies.

How to use this list with your forwarder

Approval attaches to the shipper, not the booking: Maersk requires a pre-audit, and each line holds its own status, which does not transfer between them. A forwarder books against that standing status rather than substituting for it — so hand over the factory's DG records, the row for the line quoted, and a written DG-desk answer wherever that row is blank.

Working a blank row: which desk to ask, and what to keep in writing

1. Ask the carrier's dangerous-goods desk for the country of loading — not the global website, not a third-party list.
2. Ask whether it accepts UN 1361 from your port of loading, on what conditions, and in which document.
3. Keep the reply in writing: it turns a blank into a first-class row, and it dates itself.

When your line refuses: what changes below the major carriers

One refusal is not the market closing, but the alternatives are harder to verify, not easier: published charcoal policy thins out fastest below the majors, so most of that tier enters the third class as a blank row. If the refusal is already on your booking, what to do in the first 48 hours after a charcoal booking is refused carries the procedure. Before switching, price it: what switching lines does to the DG cost stack on a charcoal container.

What this factory can put behind a booking

This factory holds approved-shipper status with MSC and CMA CGM (January 2026), Maersk (March 2026) and PIL (June 2026), and has shipped declared UN 1361 FCL with all four — MSC from Jakarta and Semarang, the rest from Jakarta. Those bookings move as UN 1361, Class 4.2, Packing Group III in 4G fibreboard. Ours, not transferable to a buyer — but it is what a forwarder books against. For the records behind a row, WhatsApp +628213924038.

This page is general information on carrier acceptance of charcoal, not legal or dangerous-goods advice. Carrier positions change without notice — confirm the current rule with your carrier before booking.