{"id":5791,"date":"2024-10-30T12:08:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.startranssa.com\/six-decades-of-consolidation-in-maritime-cargo-transport-thanks-to-the-standardized-container\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T14:56:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T13:56:34","slug":"six-decades-of-consolidation-in-maritime-cargo-transport-thanks-to-the-standardized-container","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startranssa.com\/en\/six-decades-of-consolidation-in-maritime-cargo-transport-thanks-to-the-standardized-container\/","title":{"rendered":"Six decades of consolidation in maritime cargo transport thanks to the standardized container"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) celebrates its 60th anniversary<\/strong> this year, overseeing the development of international trade and witnessing the growth of maritime cargo transport<\/strong>, which has become the predominant means of transporting all types of consumer goods from one end of the world to the other. 80% of global trade uses ships<\/strong> as the means of transport, a feat made possible by the standardization of the maritime container<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard-sized containers facilitate intermodal transport<\/strong> as they are quickly and efficiently transferred between ships, trains, and trucks. The goods are loaded into the container and unloaded upon arrival at their destination, resulting in time and cost savings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"standardized<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Advantages of the standardized maritime container<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The standardized maritime container was invented by American businessman Malcolm McLean in 1956<\/strong>. He realized that if truck cargo was directly transferred to ships, it would eliminate the heavy labour of moving goods item by item manually. Additionally, it would accelerate the process and reduce the risk of accidents and product loss. Of course, greater efficiency also meant cost optimization. \u201cA ship makes money only when it\u2019s at sea,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1964, UNCTAD was established and, by the end of the 1960s, witnessed the gradual consolidation of maritime cargo transport. By 1970, the volume of maritime trade was 2.6 billion dwt<\/strong> (deadweight tonnage, the international measure of a ship\u2019s cargo capacity). UNCTAD predicts that this year it will exceed 12.6 billion<\/strong>. The world\u2019s commercial fleet<\/strong> continues to increase its capacity, which now exceeds 2.353 billion dwt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dimensions of standardized maritime containers are regulated by ISO standards 668, 1161, and 1496<\/strong> and the International Convention for Safe Containers<\/strong>. The most used containers in global trade are Dry Vans<\/strong>, including TEU<\/strong> (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) and FEU<\/strong> (Forty-Foot Equivalent Unit), designed to transport all types of packaged and palletized goods or loose cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of containers for maritime cargo transport<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n