Transpacific (North Pacific)
A great-circle route across the North Pacific, exposed to hurricane-force winter storms from October to April.
North America · sea freight from Shanghai
Shanghai to Astoria
East China Sea · Korea Strait · Sea of Japan · Tsugaru Strait · North Pacific
This route runs through Yangshan or Waigaoqiao under Shanghai MSA's photo-verified packing rules, then follows a North Pacific crossing with no chokepoint but real winter-storm exposure; at the far end is the port of Astoria.
Astoria means US customs filings that are due while the container is still in Shanghai, and a supply chain CBP may ask to see. 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
Route profile
A great-circle route across the North Pacific, exposed to hurricane-force winter storms from October to April.
A duty line set by the exact 8507.60 code, lithium supply-chain questions under UFLPA, and ISF and AMS filings that are due before the box is loaded.


Where this route gets difficult
In the order the cargo meets them: at the loading port, at sea, at Astoria and at customs in United States.
Shanghai MSA's 2024 draft reporting guide says warehouses that stuff lithium battery dangerous goods must provide fire-department proof of their fire hazard classification and fire-resistance rating. The site's information must also be up to date on the Shanghai single window, which took over MSA account and site records in 2026.
What Anxin does: We only propose stuffing sites that can show the fire-safety documents and are on Shanghai MSA's system; if you use your own warehouse, we check this before booking.
From Shanghai the drawn corridor to Astoria runs across the North Pacific without a canal or Red Sea passage, so weather replaces chokepoints as the risk. The ONE Apus, bound from Yantian to Long Beach in November 2020, had a stack collapse in a storm about 1,600 nautical miles north-west of Hawaii; her owners said more than 1,900 containers could be lost or damaged, up to 40 of them hazmat.
What Anxin does: For winter sailings especially, we review blocking and bracing on stuffing photos against the CINS points before sealing, and make sure the DG declaration is complete, so a damaged box can be identified and handled correctly.
Consumer products containing button or coin cells manufactured or imported after 19 March 2024 must meet the UL 4200A-2023 performance and warning-label rules adopted as 16 CFR part 1263, and battery packaging labels have been mandatory since 21 September 2024. The importer also needs a certificate citing the rule.
What Anxin does: When a shipment for Astoria includes products with button or coin cells, we ask for the certificate and photos of the battery compartment warnings before booking.
19 CFR 134.11 requires every imported article, or its container, to carry the English name of the country of origin in a conspicuous place, as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the article allows, at the time it is imported. Batteries and battery products reaching Astoria without it can be held until they are marked.
What Anxin does: We check product and carton photos for a durable 'Made in China' marking before stuffing in Shanghai, rather than leaving it for re-marking in a US warehouse.
Since August 2025 lithium has been a high-priority sector under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and CBP had by then stopped more than 16,700 shipments for UFLPA review. A container for Astoria can be held while the importer shows where the cells, cathode material and lithium compounds were sourced.
What Anxin does: We tell the importer at quotation stage that supply-chain tracing may be requested, and keep manufacturer names and addresses consistent across invoice, packing list and ISF so the paper trail does not contradict itself.

Documents & compliance
Anxin reviews documents supplied by the shipper, manufacturer and importer; it does not issue test reports, safety data sheets or import certificates.

We line up UN numbers, model names and package counts across the Shanghai filings, the booking with the carrier and the documents for United States before the booking is confirmed, so that a mismatch is fixed at origin rather than discovered at Astoria.
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
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stack collapse or cargo shift in a North Pacific storm | Mid-Pacific | Blocking and bracing checked before sealing; complete DG data for incident response | Packing site / carrier, checked by Anxin |
| UFLPA detention pending supply-chain evidence | CBP at entry | Importer prepares tracing documents before shipping; consistent manufacturer data on all documents | Importer |
Questions
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.
It can, but Shanghai MSA checks the phone location of the packing photos against a verified stuffing site, and sites outside Shanghai must be registered with it. We confirm registration before the stuffing date; otherwise the container can be refused for loading.
References
Next step
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We check carrier acceptance for Shanghai → Astoria before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
All destinations from Shanghai · United States ports

Share the cargo facts; we review the route in writing.
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