On April 26, 1956, a freight shipping container was sent out into the world for the first time. The invention by Malcom P. McLean, an American with Scottish roots, revolutionised world trade.
A man and his boxes
In 1956, Malcom McLean, a shipowner and freight forwarder from the US, had a brilliant idea: if goods were shipped together in a box, instead of prepared for shipment individually, a lot of time and effort could be saved. And that meant saving money — always a winning argument.
A million crooked backs
McLean may have wanted to make life easier for all the men working their backs off in the world’s ports (not just on the US East Coast, where the first containers were shipped). The invention may have helped save their backs, but it also cut down on the number of available jobs.
A really big ship
In 1956, McLean bought the tanker Ideal X and converted it to take semi-trailers from trucks without their tractors. Today, giants like the HMM Algeciras of the Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine transport almost 24,000 TEUs at once. The 400-meter-long ship has a depth of more than 16 meters. Its size limits the ports it can call at.
First containers arrive in Germany
May 1966, Bremen’s Overseas Harbor: The Fairland, a ship owned by the McLean shipping company, brings the first 110 containers to Germany. It is here that the real added value of McLean’s invention could be seen: the networking of the individual shipping routes that makes the new system so successful. Without reloading, the goods are transported directly from the quay by truck or rail.
First containers arrive in Germany
May 1966, Bremen’s Overseas Harbor: The Fairland, a ship owned by the McLean shipping company, brings the first 110 containers to Germany. It is here that the real added value of McLean’s invention could be seen: the networking of the individual shipping routes that makes the new system so successful. Without reloading, the goods are transported directly from the quay by truck or rail.
Your standard container
Shipping containers are standardised and primarily available in two lengths: as a 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) just under seven meters (23 feet) long or, like the one pictured, as an FEU, or 40-foot equivalent unit. There are a number of variants as well, for example, refrigerated containers, or special containers for transporting animals or goods with unusual dimensions.
Of ever-growing importance
There are so many goods on the move around the world. When it comes to global trade, more than 90% of them are transported on ships. Sailing, loading, unloading, day and night . Currently, there are 6,220 container ships transporting some 24.4 million TEUs, according to the industry service Alphaline
An invitation to smugglers
With the many millions of containers that are sent somewhere in the world every day, it’s not always possible to know what is really inside. Criminals exploit this to the full extent. Here, Pakistani Brigadier General Ashfaqur Rashid Khan stands before drug cargo detected by his anti-narcotics unit.
Aesthetically pleasing, too
Many think the freight containers are pure ugliness: drab, often dented, usually dirty, and boring. But when “taken out of context and instilled with creative energy to hold a mirror up to the ugly face of capitalism,” well… But we’re not in DW’s Culture Department here.
And yet…
…maybe capitalism can be beautiful, too. Strip away all the crane operators, truck drivers and sailors, the containers take on a certain atmospheric charm, like the container terminal Altenwerder at the Port of Hamburg on the night this photo was taken.
Source: www.dw.com
