Asia – Baltic via the Danish straits
The Baltic is reached only through the Danish straits, where deep-draught ships are advised to take pilots, and its northern ports set ice-class restrictions every winter.
Europe · sea freight from Xiamen
Xiamen to Stralsund
South China Sea · Malacca Strait · Indian Ocean · Bab-el-Mandeb · Suez Canal · Strait of Gibraltar · English Channel · Danish Straits
Lithium batteries for Stralsund go through Xiamen, the port for more than 90% of Fujian's lithium battery exports. On the way they face a Suez-or-Cape voyage that ends with the Danish straits and the Baltic, and they arrive at the port of Stralsund.
The German side adds producer registration with stiftung ear and the EU Battery Regulation's labelling calendar. 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
The Baltic is reached only through the Danish straits, where deep-draught ships are advised to take pilots, and its northern ports set ice-class restrictions every winter.
EU Battery Regulation labelling and QR-code dates, stiftung ear registration under the BattDG, and an ICS2 entry summary that must exist before the box is loaded.


Where this route gets difficult
Loading port first, then the sea leg, then Stralsund and the Germany market.
Xiamen's energy-storage transport guide 2.0 (August 2026) notes that some ESS containers are carried on multipurpose ships and requires a pre-voyage meeting with the terminal and lashing parties. It also lists the terminals with class 9 qualification: Xiamen Hyundai terminal, Yuanhai Tongda, and Haixiang berths 7–8.
What Anxin does: For ESS units we confirm early whether the carrier offers container-ship or multipurpose carriage, which qualified terminal is used, and who attends the pre-voyage meeting.
Because Stralsund is an EU port, container ships of 5,000 GT or more calling there fall under the EU Emissions Trading System, which covers half the emissions of the voyage from China. Lines surrendered allowances for 70% of those emissions in 2025 and must cover 100% from 2027, a cost that can reach shippers as a surcharge.
What Anxin does: We ask for the emissions surcharge to be shown as its own line in the quote, with the basis the carrier uses, so that successive quotes can be compared like for like.
Whoever first makes batteries available in Germany is the producer and must hold a registration with stiftung ear for each brand and battery category. A non-German brand cannot register itself; it needs one authorised representative in Germany. Since 1 January 2026 every category must also be linked to an approved producer responsibility organisation (OfH), and registrations that were not updated by 15 January 2026 were withdrawn by law.
What Anxin does: We ask who acts as producer for this shipment (importer, brand owner or authorised representative) and for the Batt-Reg.-Nr. DE before the container is booked, so the question is answered while the goods are still in China.
The importer must make sure each battery travels with instructions and safety information in a language that end-users in the Member State easily understand, as that Member State determines. For consumer goods going to Germany, the practical reading is German-language safety text, and it has to be in the carton when the goods are placed on the market.
What Anxin does: When we review packing photos we note whether the inserts or labels show the required language, and we raise gaps with the shipper before stuffing rather than after arrival.
The Battery Regulation's due diligence obligations on cobalt, lithium, nickel and natural graphite were postponed by Regulation (EU) 2025/1561 and now apply from 18 August 2027, with Commission guidelines due by 26 July 2026. Buyers in Germany are already asking suppliers for the supply-chain data they will need.
What Anxin does: We pass the Germany buyer's due diligence questions to the manufacturer and keep their answers with the shipment file; the policy itself remains the producer's responsibility.

Documents & compliance
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.

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 Xiamen export filings, the carrier booking and the Germany 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
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESS unit arrives at a terminal without class 9 qualification | Xiamen port | Qualified terminal confirmed at booking | Anxin with the carrier |
| Emissions surcharge changes between quote and sailing | EU port call | Surcharge shown as a separate line | Carrier, checked by Anxin |
| Batteries arrive without a valid German producer registration | Placing on the German market after clearance | Batt-Reg.-Nr. DE and OfH status requested before booking; shipment planned only once the producer role is clear | Importer / producer |
Questions
The CE marking on the battery and the manufacturer's EU declaration of conformity, which must be available in the language Germany requires. Both have applied since 18 August 2024.
Often, but it depends on the service. The Baltic is reached through the Danish straits, and we ask the carrier to name any transhipment port and confirm DG acceptance for each vessel.
Yes. Xiamen MSA reported 104 ESS containers of 36 tonnes each loaded for Houston in June 2026. Xiamen's ESS guide 2.0 requires a pre-voyage meeting and use of a class 9 qualified terminal.
References
Next step
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We check carrier acceptance for Xiamen → Stralsund before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
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