The Intermodal Shipping Container

If you live in a South African port city like Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Saldanha or Coega, travelling shipping containers are likely to be a part of your everyday life. Whether we realise it or not, all of us depend on the use of shipping containers that underpin global freight handling. Here’s a quick look at the history of the intermodal shipping container and the way it has changed the world.

The ABCs of Shipping Container Jargon

What is a shipper-owned container and how does it differ from a carrier-owned container? Is a box, container, TEU and FEU the same thing? And what on earth is a NVOCC?

The shipping container is one of the most important inventions of the modern world. It completely changed the 20th century business landscape and is widely hailed as one of the major architects of globalisation. The humble container turned 60 in 2016 and is firmly entrenched as the standard for worldwide shipping. In fact, it is estimated that there are 35+ million TEUs in current circulation.

International waters are currently the safest it’s been for the last 22 years

As suppliers to the world’s foremost shipping enterprises, the safety of the crews that steer these cargo ships are of the utmost importance to us. As such, we were very happy to learn that according to the most recent statistics, international waters are currently the safest it’s been for the last 22 years.

Modern Day Life on the High Seas

Over the festive season we came across a wonderfully written article about life at sea in modern times. The article, written by a journalist for The Economist, follows the crew of a Maersk container ship on a journey across high seas in the age of quantification. It’s a riveting read! Below we share a summary of its high points; you can read the full article here.

Container Ship Design

In our previous article we gave you an overview of the design and construction principles at the heart of container ship design, as well as container ship hull geometry. Today we move on to the midship section; the torsion box in double-hulled container ships; and the stowage of containers.

Container Ship Design

Container ships form an important cornerstone of modern maritime traffic. Historically, cargo ships were designed to ferry cargo in bulk, but even in the most rudimentary examples of these vessels, unit cargo was stowed in wooden containers or boxes. As wider types of cargo became increasingly prevalent, container solutions were tailored to move fragile cargo, more compact goods, and items that required special handling. The first container ships were designed to be loaded with these new storage units, and also had to ensure that the contents thereof remained undisturbed so it could reach its destination in good order.

The Major Economic Importance of African Marine Ports

As a preferred supplier of chandlery services to several clients that dock in our African marine ports, Link Ships Chandlers has a vested interest in the sustainability of the continent’s marine trade. We have always believed that placing a focus on the development of marine ports and related infrastructure has the potential to bolster the region’s economic stability at large, and we are happy to note that it seems that important economic commentators, such as Gilbert Saggia (MD East Africa at SAP Africa) agree.