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Container History | The History of Shipping Containers Explained

THE BEGINNING – WHERE DID SHIPPING CONTAINERS COME FROM?

BEFORE 1956, GOODS USED TO BE LOADED ONTO SHIPS AND OFFLOADED DIRECTLY ONE PIECE AT A TIME, WHICH WAS VERY SLOW.

One man, Malcom Maclean, noticed this problem and solved it by inventing the shipping container. A few improvements have been made since then to create the present day ISO container.

At the moment, about 90% of global trade is carried by sea with shipping containers playing a major part. It’s estimated that at any one time there are about six million containers being transported around the world on ships, trucks, and train. Most of these originate from China – where most of the world’s goods (and the containers themselves) are manufactured.

Of these, only a small fraction will be transported back to their port of origin for re-use due to high relocation costs which leads to the “abandonment” of shipping containers in their places of delivery. This phenomenon has made shipping containers abundantly available at low costs virtually everywhere in the world.

CARGO CONTAINERS WERE FIRST USED IN THE 1950S WHEN THEY WERE INITIALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMERCIAL SHIPPING. A SHIPPING OWNER NAMED MALCOLM MCLEAN WORKED CLOSELY WITH AN ENGINEER NAMED KEITH TANTLINGER TO DEVELOP WHAT WE COMMONLY RECOGNISE TODAY AS SHIPPING CONTAINERS….

The first intermodal container system was developed and coined Container Express, later shortened to ConEx which became an easily recognizable abbreviation in the United States of America.

Malcolm McLean used a converted World War II tanker called the Ideal X on April 26, 1956 to transport 58 metal container boxes and 15,000 tons of bulk petroleum from Port Newark to Houston, Texas. It took six days for the voyage and once the ship arrived in the Port of Houston there were already orders coming in for the ship to take goods back to Port Newark.

McLean’s company, Sea-Land Services was soon seeing some competition from the Matson Navigation Company. The ship “Hawaiian Merchant” successfully transported 20 containers from Alameda to Honolulu in 1958. Matson Navigation constructed a ship called the Hawaiian Citizen in 1960 and then a company called Sea-Land constructed a ship called “Gateway City” which made its maiden voyage on October 4, 1957 from Port Newark to Miami. Cargo was being moved at the rate of 264 tons per hour with two gangs of dockworkers loading and unloading the cargo from the ship. Grace Line then introduced a fully containerized ship called the Santa Eliana which entered the realm of foreign trade when her destination was Venezuela in January, 1960.

Standardisation and Regulations

Container sizes needed to be standardised so that they could be efficiently stacked on top of one another. This standardization allowed for ships, trains, trucks and cranes at ports to be built or fitted to deal with one particular size specification. The International Organization for Standardisation set standards for cargo containers in 1961 and this now applies across the global industry for international shipping.

A regulation was enacted in 1972 by the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organization regarding both the safe handling and the transport of shipping containers. Under this regulation, all cargo containers which travel internationally must be labelled with a CSC Plate (Container Safety Convention). The correct procedure for inspection is to inspect containers before and after packing them to ensure that they are safe and ready for transport.

Assorted coloured large metal boxes. While that is certainly not a phrase that screams innovation and excitement, shipping containers are proof not to judge a book by its cover.

Despite their outwardly basic appearance, shipping containers have a rather extensive and impressive history contributing to their many uses in today’s society and trade cycle.

The current global trade climate is volatile due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent container shortage. However, up until this significant disruption, the shipping container and trade industry were working together so seamlessly that they essentially flew under the radar of the public eye.

Trade before the Steel Container

Trade existed before the use of shipping containers, However, in an extremely different and far less global manner.

Since the dawn of commerce, people have been utilising items like boxes, sacks, barrels and containers of various sizes and materials to transport goods over distances in the act of trade.

In 1600 BC Egypt, Phoenicians ferried wood, fabrics, and glass to Arabia in sacks upon camel driven transportation. Hundreds of years later, such innovation was continuing to be performed by the Greeks, using ancient storage containers known as amphorae to transport wine, olive oil and grain on triremes (ships) that served the Mediterranean and neighbouring seas.

Trade continued to grow more advanced, and countries worldwide found new ways to innovate the transportation of goods. However, the process of loading and unloading goods remained highly labour-intensive, time-consuming and costly because of the inconsistency of the transportation methods.

The act of loading barrels, sacks, and wooden crates that carried the goods onto docks waiting to be transferred to ships was called break-bulk shipping. It was an extremely long process, and as a result, ships often spent more time at the ports waiting to be loaded and unloaded than actually at sea. This meant that transporting any raw materials or non-perishable items was nearly impossible, as they couldn’t survive such long journeys in these unsuitable conditions.

As goods came packed in all different shapes and sizes, it often meant that space on a ship could not be effectively utilised, wasting a lot of cargo space and creating weight and balance issues. During this period, goods were often experiencing damage or theft during handling because of the inconsistent systems and procedures.

Trade before the Steel Container

Birth of the Shipping Container

With clear issues and faults with the existing trade procedures, American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean revolutionised the shipping and trade industry in 1956.

For many years, Malcolm noticed prominent issues when transporting his own company’s cargo quickly and efficiently onto shipping vessels. As a result, he began working with engineer Keith Tantlinger to brainstorm a better mode of transport for goods, and ultimately, engineer the world’s first shipping container.

At the time, and still today, it remains an incredible invention that eliminated wasted space aboard vessels and cut down labour loading times by up to an impressive three weeks. Most significantly, however, the introduction of the shipping container meant that cargo could be seamlessly transported between road, rail, and sea.

The first shipping container

Despite the ingenious nature of Malcolm’s invention, like any new resource, it was a work in progress.

The first shipping container was also classified as intermodal cargo transportation, allowing containers to be stacked on the ship’s deck for faster loading and unloading, and secure transportation. McLean called this original project ‘Ideal X’.

Mclean then continued to work on his passion project and developed the system he called fitting” that allowed containers to be lifted and fixed onto other objects like vehicles or even one another for greater security and efficiency. This was a significant improvement to the invention as it considerably lowered loading costs. Specifically, loading costs went from $5.86 per tonne during the 1950s to today’s value of just $1.60 per tonne of cargo loaded.

1968 Container Expansion

Despite being identified as a game-changer when first invented, the container revolution truly took off in 1968 after intermodal shipping was tested and proven to the public eye. Other fleets began adopting McLean’s method.

Shipping container fleets began to expand, rapidly reaping this new invention’s rewards. So much so that the intermodal method became the default shipping and storage method used widely across the shipping industry.

Not only did it increase the widespread adoption of the shipping container, but it inspired other developments. This included the development of the first quayside container gantry crane called the ‘Portainer’, which was used to massively lower loading times and costs of loading and unloading shipping containers.

1968 Container Expansion

A Trade Revolution

Despite Malcolm McLean inventing the standard cargo container, which we know today, in 1956, the US military was also exploring the use of small standardised containers during World War II. They intended to transport guns, bombs, and other materials to the front lines more efficiently. However, they did not make any major or widespread inventions like McLean.

Since the introduction of standardised container methods in global trade, the loading and unloading of ships and trains are now partially mechanised. As a result, transferring is much more seamless, and other essential factors of trades can be prioritised. Products could not remain in their original containers from the point of manufacture to delivery, ultimately reducing costs in terms of labour and significantly minimising their risk of damage and theft.

The containers during this time were initially designed and built at a length of 33 feet and typically all had the same measurements. However, they have since increased to different varieties of 35 feet, by 8 feet wide, and other alternatives depending on global trade requirements. The different sized options dramatically enhance the opportunity for these containers, not to mention their durable steel material meant the goods remained protected from thieves.

These days, not much has changed for shipping containers in terms of their structure. They remain made with the same quality materials, and on average, ships can handle more than 16,000 containers on a single journey, optimising the trade cycle.

What has changed is now the uses for shipping containers. While despite the COVID-19 interruptions, the shipping container industry is otherwise thriving, they are now additionally being used for personal DIY projects and various infrastructure.

The simplicity and durability of shipping containers make them innovative and practical beyond imagination, and why they are unlikely to become irrelevant any time soon. Not to mention, their impressive history makes their invention and sustainability even more valuable.

For more information on how to use, transport and optimise your shipping container, or if you are interested in purchasing one, contact Tiger Containers today. We work closely with the humble shipping container and seek to help you with all of your supply needs.

BRIEF HISTORY OF SHIPPING CONTAINERS

1950
Cargo containers were first used in the 1950s when they were initially developed for the purpose of commercial shipping
1956
Malcolm McLean used a converted Worl War II tanker called the Ideal X on April 26, 1956 to transport 58 metal container boxes and 15,000 tons of bulk petroleum from Port Newark to Houston, Texas
1958
The ship “Hawaiian Merchant” successfully transported 20 containers from Alameda in 1958
1960
Matson Navigation constructed a container ship called the Hawaiian Citizen in 1960
1960
Grace line then introduced a fully containerized ship called the Santa Eliana wich entered the realm of foreign trade when her destination was venezuela in January, 1960
1961
The Internal Organization for Standardisation set standards for cargo containers in 1961 and this now applies across the global Industry for International shipping.
1972
A regulation was enacted in 1972 by the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organization regarding both the safe handling and the transport of shipping containers

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