Storage & Container News — container ship

Around 90% of everything that is purchased has traveled at some stage in a container. Containerization and the standardization of the size of containers in and around 1970 changed the face of the planet.  Before standardization of the container cargo was loaded at 1.3 tonnes per hour.  Post 1970 ships were loaded at 30 tonnes per hour.  Resistance by dockworkers was crushed, docks rebuilt for container ships, jobs lost but profits were up and suddenly global trade spiraled off the graph. The 20 ft and 40 ft containers we use today became the standard which is referred to as TEU...

The MSC Oscar is not the worlds largest ship but it carries 124 more containers than the CSCL Globe, which used to be the worlds largest container ship, despite being slightly shorter.  The MSC Oscar is 1,300 ft long and can carry 19,224 containers. It is the worlds largest container ship. MSC Global, Worlds largest Container ship (above) and the former worlds largest container ship the CSCL Globe (below)  When you consider there are more than 6,000 container vessels currently in service, one begins to see the scale of the inter modal freight system.