Sealed coffin

A sealed coffin is one closed so that it stays airtight and leak-proof while it crosses borders, as the international rules on repatriation require. The lining it needs depends on the countries involved and on whether it travels by road or by air. The funeral director signs a declaration that the coffin has been sealed as required.

Why it is needed

The requirement comes from the destination country and the carrier, not from the UK. Nearly every country asks for a coffin sealed to a standard it sets, and every airline asks for the same when a coffin travels as cargo. Embalming preserves; the sealed coffin contains. Together they keep everyone who looks after the coffin safe over days of travel, and they help your loved one arrive as they were.

How it is made

For the strictest standard, the one used by air and by some countries, an inner metal coffin is soldered shut and fitted inside a solid wooden outer coffin, so that nothing can leak or shift. The international regulations set the detail: a 5 cm layer of absorbent material with an antiseptic in the base of the inner coffin, and an outer coffin at least 3 cm thick, with watertight joints and screws no more than 20 cm apart.

By road and by air

The airline standard is stricter than the road standard, because the hold is pressurised and the people loading it know nothing of what is inside beyond the label. Some countries ask for a metal inner coffin and others do not. Most repatriations within Europe go by road, where the coffin is sealed to the destination’s rules and stays in one vehicle from start to finish; see repatriation by road. The signed declaration goes with the coffin, alongside the embalming certificate.