Hapag-Lloyd will stop accepting Dangerous Goods documentation by email for Bulgarian export shipments from 1 November 2026, forcing every DG filing through a single online channel. From that date, customers exporting dangerous cargo from Bulgaria must submit all documentation exclusively via the Booking Amendment Tool inside the carrier's customer portal. Anything sent by email, through other communication channels or to other departments will simply no longer be accepted.

The change is narrow in geography but broad in process. It covers every export shipment originating in Bulgaria that carries dangerous goods, and it touches three distinct workflows that shippers and forwarders previously handled through looser, mail-based correspondence with the carrier.

The tool must now be used to:

• Submit Dangerous Goods details for new bookings
• Update existing DG information on shipments already booked
• Reclassify a shipment from non-dangerous to Dangerous Goods

Each request starts the same way. The customer selects "Change DG Information" in the portal and uploads the relevant supporting documents. Hapag-Lloyd has listed the paperwork it expects to see: preliminary or final IMO Dangerous Goods forms, Material Safety Data Sheets, Safety Data Sheets and, where applicable, tank certificates.

A written explanation is mandatory as well. Customers must attach a clear description of the requested amendment to every submission, so the carrier's documentation team can process the change without follow-up questions.

What does the deadline change in practice?

The hard cut-off is the operative fact. Until 31 October 2026, the old channels still work; from 1 November 2026, an emailed DG form from a Bulgarian shipper carries no weight with the carrier. That creates a compliance cliff rather than a gradual transition, and forwarders managing Bulgarian export flows will need to brief clients and update standard operating procedures before the deadline.

The burden of correctness also shifts. Because the portal upload is the only accepted route, an incomplete submission — a missing tank certificate, an ambiguous amendment description — risks sitting unprocessed rather than being patched up over email. Shippers who handle IMO-classified cargo, chemicals or tank container moves out of Bulgarian ports have the most to lose from a sloppy handover.

Why are carriers pushing documentation into portals?

Hapag-Lloyd has framed the move as a process change, not a policy one, but it fits a wider pattern across container lines: standardising dangerous goods intake to cut manual handling and reduce the error risk inherent in free-form email traffic. DG documentation errors are among the most sensitive failure points in container shipping, touching vessel safety and port handling rather than just commercial terms.

For Bulgaria specifically, the change channels all dangerous goods exports — whatever the volume or trade lane — into one auditable digital trail, held inside the carrier's own systems rather than scattered across inboxes.

Shippers and forwarders with Bulgarian DG export flows should verify portal access, confirm that consignees and packers can produce the required IMO forms, safety data sheets and tank certificates in upload-ready form, and test the "Change DG Information" workflow well before 1 November 2026. Hapag-Lloyd has signalled no grace period after that date, and the trajectory across carriers points toward more markets following Bulgaria's template of portal-only DG documentation.

By Elena Vasquez