Lianyungang
Jiangsu's Yellow Sea port, with a simplified document list for 'new three' cargo since 2024 and its own guide for energy-storage units on break-bulk ships.
North America · sea freight from Lianyungang
Shipping from Lianyungang to San Francisco
Lianyungang to San Francisco
Yellow Sea · Korea Strait · Sea of Japan · Tsugaru Strait · North Pacific
- LianyungangChina origin
- Yellow Sea
- Korea Strait
- Sea of Japan
- Tsugaru Strait
- North Pacific
- San FranciscoUnited States
Lithium batteries for San Francisco go out of Lianyungang, where the MSA simplified 'new three' filings in 2024. On the way they face the open North Pacific, where weather is the main risk, and they arrive at the port of San Francisco.
The US side starts with two filings due before loading and ends with a road leg that must carry a live emergency number. The 6 points below are particular to this lane; each comes with what we do and the paperwork it touches.
What we need to start
- Break-bulk ESS guide
- Fog season Apr–Jul
- Supply-chain tracing file
- HTS code 8507.60
- ISF filer
Route profile
What sets Lianyungang → San Francisco apart
Transpacific (North Pacific)
A great-circle route across the North Pacific, exposed to hurricane-force winter storms from October to April.
Where this route gets difficult
6 pain points from Lianyungang to San Francisco
Listed from loading in Lianyungang to import into United States, each with what we do about it.
- Origin port
A shorter document list at Lianyungang, not a shorter check
Lianyungang MSA's Notice No. 1 of 2024 cut the materials for 'new three' cargo to four on the cargo side: the safe-carriage declaration, the inspector-signed packing certificate, the packaging inspection certificate where packaged, and a power of attorney. Fewer papers means each one carries more weight; the packing certificate still has to be signed by a certified inspector after supervised stuffing.
What Anxin does: We prepare the four cargo-side documents together and check that the packing certificate, the packaging certificate and the declaration describe the same UN numbers and quantities.
- Origin port
Yellow Sea fog from April to July
The China Meteorological Administration describes sea fog as a major marine hazard in the Yellow and Bohai Seas, mainly from April to July. At Lianyungang, as at Qingdao, fog can hold vessels at anchor, and a changed vessel means amended DG filings.
What Anxin does: In fog season we keep slack between stuffing and the DG cut-off and have the filing data ready to amend.
- Sea corridor
Winter storms with hurricane-force winds
NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center found hurricane-force winds (64 knots and above) in North Pacific mid-latitude storms in every month from October to April, peaking in December, with 15 to 23 such storms per season in its 2001–2004 records. They are not typhoons, so they do not follow the tropical calendar.
What Anxin does: For October–April sailings we check blocking and bracing on stuffing photos before sealing and confirm the full DG data are on the manifest.
- Import country
The FMC's 30-day rules on demurrage and detention bills
If a battery container waits at San Francisco, the demurrage or detention invoice has to arrive within 30 days and carry accurate and sufficient information, or the charge is not owed (46 CFR part 541). The billed party then has at least 30 days to dispute it; in 2025 the D.C. Circuit struck down only the rule on who may be invoiced.
What Anxin does: We keep the dates of discharge, availability and any DG hold for each container, so the importer can check invoices against them and dispute charges inside the FMC time limits.
- Import country
SP188 packages need an extra US marking
Small cells and batteries shipped under IMDG special provision 188 do not need a dangerous goods declaration at sea, but 49 CFR 171.25(b)(3) adds a US condition: each package of UN3480 or UN3090 must carry the 'FORBIDDEN FOR TRANSPORT ABOARD PASSENGER AIRCRAFT' marking or a Cargo Aircraft Only label, and so must packages of batteries with or in equipment above 5 kg net. Cartons printed for other markets often lack it.
What Anxin does: When the shipper declares SP188 for a San Francisco booking, we check the carton photos for the US marking or CAO label before stuffing, not after discharge.
- Import country
California's battery-embedded product rules since January 2026
Under California SB 1215, consumers have paid a recycling fee on covered battery-embedded products since 1 January 2026, and those products must be labelled with the maker's name or brand and the battery chemistry, or give that information on the maker's website. Manufacturers must also list covered and exempt products in an annual notice to retailers and CalRecycle.
What Anxin does: If the goods landing at San Francisco are devices with built-in batteries for sale in California, we ask the brand owner to confirm the chemistry labelling and the CalRecycle notice before shipping.
Documents & compliance
Checklist for Lianyungang → San Francisco
These documents come from the shipper, the manufacturer and the importer. Anxin checks them against each other; it does not issue test reports, safety data sheets or import certificates.
At the Lianyungang end
- The four cargo-side documents under Lianyungang MSA Notice 2024 No. 1 prepared together and cross-checked
- Load plan showing even weight distribution (no more than 60% of the cargo weight in either half of the container length)
- 'Made in China' marking on articles or containers checked on photos
- 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)
For the shipping line
- Stuffing photos before, during and after packing, checked for blocking and bracing
- Lithium battery mark (SP188 cargo) or class 9 labels and placards
- Condition statement: new, used, damaged/defective (SP376) or for recycling (SP377)
For the importer in United States
- ISF filer named; stuffing location and consolidator sent right after packing
- HTSUS classification from the broker (8507.60.0010 vs .0020 decides the Section 301 line)
Before you book
One consistent file
A document that is present but inconsistent holds a booking as surely as a missing one: the UN number, model name or carton count reads differently in the Lianyungang export filings, the carrier booking and the United States import papers. We compare all three before confirming space.
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
Risks on this route and who deals with them
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| One of the four documents inconsistent with the others | Lianyungang MSA filing | Cross-check before submission | Anxin with the declarant |
| Heavy-weather damage in a winter storm | North Pacific, Oct–Apr | CINS stuffing checks | Packing site, checked by Anxin |
| SP188 cartons without the US marking | Discharge and onward trucking | Marking or CAO label checked on carton photos before stuffing | Shipper, checked by Anxin |
Questions
Lianyungang → San Francisco: questions we are asked
No. The carrier must also send its cargo declaration through AMS 24 hours before loading, and CBP will not issue the permit to unlade without it.
Weather is the main risk on this crossing: NOAA recorded hurricane-force North Pacific storms from October to April, most often in December. We tighten the packing checks for those sailings.
Under its Notice No. 1 of 2024, the cargo side submits the DG safe-carriage declaration, the inspector-signed packing certificate, the packaging inspection certificate where the goods are packaged, and a power of attorney.
References
Where these points come from
- 19 CFR 134.11: Country of origin marking required (Legal Information Institute (e-CFR text))
- 19 CFR 149.2 – Importer security filing: requirement and time of transmission (eCFR / CBP)
- 19 CFR 4.7: inward foreign manifest; advance filing of cargo declaration (24 hours before lading) (Legal Information Institute (e-CFR text))
- Section 301 Modifications Determination (Federal Register notice, Sept 2024) (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative)
- 49 CFR 171.25 – Additional requirements for the use of the IMDG Code (eCFR / PHMSA)
- Hurricane force extratropical cyclones observed using QuikSCAT (Mariners Weather Log 49-1) (NOAA Ocean Prediction Center)
- 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 Lianyungang
- 5ImportClearance at San Francisco
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After you send it
We check carrier acceptance for Lianyungang → San Francisco before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
All destinations from Lianyungang · United States ports
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