Dalian (Dayaowan)
North-east China's battery gateway at Dayaowan, with a small but growing lithium export flow, a local MSA that has named misdeclaration as its main problem, and both winter ice and spring fog.
North America · sea freight from Dalian
Shipping from Dalian to St. John's
Dalian to St. John's
Yellow Sea · Korea Strait · Tsugaru Strait · Eastern Pacific · Panama Canal · Caribbean Sea · Windward Passage · North Atlantic
- DalianChina origin
- Yellow Sea
- Korea Strait
- Tsugaru Strait
- Eastern Pacific
- Panama Canal
- Caribbean Sea
- Windward Passage
- North Atlantic
- St. John'sCanada
Lithium batteries for St. John's go from Liaoning through Dalian's Dayaowan terminals. On the way they face a corridor into Atlantic Canada's waters, and they arrive at the port of St. John's.
Canada adds an eManifest that closes 24 hours before loading and a CARM account that decides whether goods are released before duty is paid. This page sets out 5 points specific to this route, how Anxin handles each one and which documents to prepare.
What we need to start
- Winter ice & spring fog
- Dalian Dayaowan export
- eManifest cut-off
- CARM account
- Bilingual labels
Route profile
How Dalian → St. John's differs from other lanes
Asia – Atlantic Canada, the St Lawrence and the North Atlantic
Atlantic Canada and St Lawrence waters: icebreaking in winter, hurricane-force storms from October to April.
Where this route gets difficult
5 pain points from Dalian to St. John's
Listed from loading in Dalian to import into Canada, each with what we do about it.
- Origin port
Winter sea ice near Dayaowan
The Bohai Sea and the northern Yellow Sea freeze every winter. For 2021/22 China's marine forecast centre expected floating ice around 15 nautical miles offshore in the northern Yellow Sea, where Dayaowan is, and around 60 in Liaodong Bay, with the peak between mid-January and mid-February.
What Anxin does: For January–February sailings from Dalian we allow extra time between stuffing and the DG cut-off and reconfirm the vessel schedule the week before loading.
- Origin port
Sea fog off Dalian, April to July
Sea fog is one of the main marine hazards of the Yellow and Bohai Seas according to the China Meteorological Administration, concentrated between April and July and with a serious effect on shipping. A vessel held at anchor by fog can arrive late enough to push a box beyond the sailing its documents name.
What Anxin does: In the fog season we avoid tight stuffing-to-cut-off gaps and keep the filing data ready to amend if the vessel changes.
- Sea corridor
Late-summer hurricanes on the Atlantic approach
Atlantic hurricanes run from 1 June to 30 November, with the peak around 10 September and most storms between mid-August and mid-October, on the approach to St. John's.
What Anxin does: For August–October arrivals we plan slack and pass the carrier's revised arrival to your consignee.
- Import country
English and French on consumer labels
Canada's consumer packaging rules require most mandatory label information on prepackaged consumer products in both English and French. Only the dealer's name and address may be in one language, and imported goods that do not state their origin need 'imported by / importé par' before it.
What Anxin does: For retail-packed goods going to St. John's, we check the carton and retail-box artwork for the bilingual text before production is packed.
- Import country
A 24-hour number and English or French documents for the Canadian road leg
Canada accepts IMDG marking and documentation for the truck move out of St. John's (TDG s. 9.3), provided the shipping document is legible in English or French, gives a 24-hour number and the container is placarded under TDG Part 4 or the IMDG Code.
What Anxin does: We check that the DG declaration is in English, carries a 24-hour number that the consignee has arranged and matches the container's placards before the documents go to the Canadian trucker.
Documents & compliance
Documents to line up for Dalian → St. John's
Test reports, safety data sheets and import certificates come from the shipper, factory and importer, not from Anxin; our part is to review them before booking.
At the Dalian end
- Bilingual (English/French) retail labelling checked on artwork
- Safety data sheet and dangerous goods safe-carriage declaration for the MSA cargo report
- Customs packaging use-appraisal result for the dangerous goods packaging (with the maker's performance appraisal)
- Container packing certificate signed by a certified packing inspector after supervised stuffing
- Transport-condition classification report where applicable
Carrier and voyage
- Final cargo data with the carrier before the eManifest cut-off; no amendments after filing
- Condition statement: new, used, damaged/defective (SP376) or for recycling (SP377)
- UN 38.3 test summary for every cell and battery type
At the Canada end
- English DG documents with a 24-hour number for the Canadian road leg
- Importer's CARM account and release-prior-to-payment security confirmed
Before you book
Match the details first
We line up UN numbers, model names and package counts across the Dalian filings, the booking with the carrier and the documents for Canada before the booking is confirmed, so that a mismatch is fixed at origin rather than discovered at St. John's.
Carriers we book with
Our booking panel; availability on this lane and acceptance of the declared UN numbers are confirmed for each booking. It does not mean that a listed carrier runs a direct service on this route. Carrier choice depends on the trade lane, cargo classification and each carrier's dangerous-goods acceptance at booking. The final carrier is confirmed on the booking.
Risk & mitigation
What could go wrong from Dalian to St. John's, and who acts
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice delays berthing in mid-winter | Northern Yellow Sea, Jan–Feb | Extra time before cut-off; schedule reconfirmed | Carrier, monitored by Anxin |
| Fog hold delays the vessel; filings need amending | Yellow Sea, Apr–Jul | Amendment-ready filing data | Anxin with the declarant |
Questions
Dalian → St. John's: questions we are asked
At least 24 hours before loading in China. If the data are amended electronically before the ship sails, the 24 hours restart from the CBSA's acknowledgement.
NOAA's storm study found hurricane-force winter storms from October to April, most often in January.
Sea ice forms every winter in the northern Yellow Sea; in 2021/22 it was forecast to reach about 15 nautical miles out there, peaking mid-January to mid-February. We plan extra time for those weeks.
References
Regulations and port sources cited
- Customs Notice 25-22: End of Release Prior to Payment (RPP) transition period (Canada Border Services Agency)
- Memorandum D3-5-1: Marine pre-load/pre-arrival and reporting requirements (Canada Border Services Agency)
- Guide to the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations (Competition Bureau Canada)
- TDG Regulations Part 9, section 9.3: transporting dangerous goods to or from a vessel, a port facility or a marine terminal (Transport Canada)
- Tropical Cyclone Climatology (NOAA National Hurricane Center)
- Hurricane force extratropical cyclones observed using QuikSCAT (Mariners Weather Log 49-1) (NOAA Ocean Prediction Center)
- Sea ice arrives: what are the impacts? (Bohai and northern Yellow Sea, winter 2021/22) (China Meteorological Administration (from China Natural Resources News))
- Sea fog in the Yellow and Bohai Seas (fog season mainly April–July) (China Meteorological Administration (from Guangming Daily))
- Export dangerous goods packaging inspection: service guide (Chinese) (General Administration of Customs of China (Lanzhou Customs service guide))
Next step
From enquiry to import
- 1EnquiryCargo, origin, destination
- 2Documents checkUN 38.3, SDS, packing
- 3BookingAfter carrier acceptance
- 4HandoverAt Dalian
- 5ImportClearance at St. John's
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After you send it
We check carrier acceptance for Dalian → St. John's before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
All destinations from Dalian · Canada ports
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