How did shipping containers, which celebrated their 65th anniversary, become popular?



In 2021, the shipping container, which is also used for luggage transportation and rental storage space, celebrated its 65th anniversary.

DW of overseas media summarizes how this shipping container was born and how it became popular.

The shipping container turns 65 years old | All media content | DW | 26.04.2021
https://www.dw.com/en/the-shipping-container-turns-65-years-old/g-57316389

The shipping container was developed by Malcolm P. McLean, an American with Scottish roots. A shipowner and freight forwarder, he came up with the idea of saving time and effort by shipping goods in large boxes rather than individually, which is where shipping containers come from. The shipping container was first used on April 26, 1956.



It's unclear if McLean wanted to make the lives of people working in ports around the world easier, but shipping containers have steadily become popular and have helped reduce the workload at ports.



In 1956 McLean bought a tanker called 'Ideal X' and modified it to carry containers

on a semi-trailer. Nowadays, huge tankers are transporting containers all over the world, and the 400-meter-long 'HMMA LGECIRAS' owned by Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine can carry about 24,000 TEU at a time.



Shipping containers first arrived in Germany in May 1966, when a ship called Fairland, owned by McLean's shipping company, arrived at the port of Bremen, and 110 containers were brought in for the first time. .. From here, networking of transportation routes using containers will proceed. If you use a shipping container, you do not need to refill the cargo in detail, and you can transport the container unloaded from the ship to the inland by truck as it is.



In modern times when shipping containers have become widespread, there are two main types of container sizes: 1TEU (20 feet long: about 6.1 meters) and 1FEU (40 feet long: about 12.2 meters). Of course, there are also containers with refrigeration, and special containers for carrying things that exceed the default size.



More than 90% of the cargo transported by world trade is transported by ship, and at the time of writing the article, about 24.4 million TEUs are transported worldwide. There are 6220 container ships operating worldwide that carry shipping containers.



Hamburg is the largest port in Germany and the 18th largest in the world in terms of the amount of marine containers handled. The port has railroad tracks for transporting containers.



Handling a huge amount of containers requires advanced planning, management and control. Therefore, the port that handles a large number of containers has a control center like the control room of an international airport.



With millions of shipping containers sent daily from around the world to large ports, it is physically impossible to scrutinize everything. Therefore, criminals are said to hide drugs in the container and smuggle them, and in some

cases a secret torture room is created in the shipping container. In some cases, response units to deal with such crimes work in ports.



Shipping containers have a rugged look and are often dirty or dented. However, DW summarizes that 'containers have a unique atmosphere and charm,' as shown in the photo below taken at the container terminal

CTA in the Port of Hamburg.



in Note, Posted by logu_ii