CONTAINERIZED CARGOES

General

A Container is an article of transport equipment:

a) of a permanent character and strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;

b) specially designed to facilitate transport of goods by one or more means of transport without
intermediate reloading;
c) designed to be secured and readily handled having corner fittings for these purposes;
d) of a standard size and design;
e) constructed in such a way as to facilitate easy loading and reloading.

The container has a strengthened deck and corners and the deck is generally lined with wood. The
sides which are susceptible to damage are corrugated to provide additional strength. The main
strength lies in the frame. The International Convention for Safe Containers 1972, specifies the
structural requirements and contains regulations for inspection, approval and maintenance. Most
containers are built with forklift pockets.

Size of Containers
The dimensions of containers have been standardised by the International Standards Organization.
The most common are the TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) and the FEUs (Forty Foot Equivalent
Units) though other unconventional sizes may be found on certain trades.

Typical TEU sizes: Typical FEU sizes:

L:20’00” x W:8’00” x H: 8’00” L:40’00” x W:8’00” x H: 8’00”
L:20’00” x W:8’00” x H: 8’06” L:40’00” x W:8’00” x H: 8’06”
L:20’00” x W:8’00” x H: 9’06” L:40’00” x W:8’00” x H: 9’06”
L:20’00” x W:8’00” x H: 4’03” L:40’00” x W:8’00” x H: 4’03”

Construction Material of Containers

Containers are generally made of steel or steel alloys (such as Corten steel). Some tank containers are
made of stainless steel.

Other common construction materials are aluminium and GRP (glass reinforced plastic).

Steel and steel alloy containers are the most common accounting for about 65% of all containers,
followed by aluminium containers at about 26% and GRP at about 9%.

Types of Containers**
 1. Closed, General Purpose containersare closed box dry units used for carriage of most types of
cargoes. Access for ‘stuffing’ and ‘destuffing’ is through full height twin locking doors at one
end.
2. Ventilation containers are similar to conventional containers but with added ventilation grills
at the top and bottom of the side walls for cargoes such as coffee which require a high degree
of ventilation during shipping.
3. Refrigerated containers are generally made of aluminium or GRP and are totally insulated and
fitted with a refrigerated air blower system to keep perishable goods such as meats,
vegetables and fruits fresh. Cold air is blown in at the bottom and extracted at the top. They
must be stowed in the vicinity of power points generally situated on deck.
4. Insulated containers are mainly made of aluminium or GRP, fitted with an inner layer of wood
or polyurethane foam. It is used for cargoes such as wine cargoes which on account of their
insulation are prevented from freezing in cold climates.
5. Tank containers which are generally made of steel and have framed tank units for carriage of
bulk liquids. Tank containers for carriage of cargoes such as milk and fruit juice are made of
stainless steel.
6. Bulk containers have loading hatches in the roof and one or more discharge hatches at the
base which allows free flow of cargoes such as grain, sugar and cement and are usually fitted
with steel floors for easy cleaning.
7. Open top containers permit top loading and discharging for awkward height loads which
cannot be handled through the doorways of conventional units. Since other containers cannot
be loaded on top of the open top containers, they are generally stowed in the top tier.
8. Half-height containers are open top containers which are 04’03” in height designed for
carriage of dense cargoes such as steel ingots, stones, etc.
9. Pen or livestock containers have large openings in the sides, at the top and bottom to provide
adequate ventilation for the livestock. It may be divided into 2 or more decks for carriage of
sheep using portable aluminium plates which lock into each other.
10. Open sides / open ends / platforms or flat rack containers are used when the cargo dimensions
are awkward (e.g. project cargoes, machineries, etc.). Open side and open end containers may
have no sides or ends. The advantage is that cargo can be loaded by forklifts without
removing the container off the truck or railcar.

Weights of Containers

The maximum gross weights have also been specified by ISO. For example:

40’ container – 30,480 kg

20’ container – 20,320 kg (24,000 kg if container has a reinforced construction)

Convention for Safe Containers (CSC)**

The objective of the 1972 CSC is to ensure a high level of safety of human life by adapting common
international safety requirements for the structural design and ongoing inspection and maintenance
of cargo containers

CSC lays down international standards in 2 areas;

1) Design Type Approval to ensure that new containers are designed and built to meet ISO
dimensional and strength requirements. Design meeting all CSC and ISO requirements are
assigned a CSC number which appears on the safety approval plate of every container built to
that design.

2) Safety Inspections to ensure that containers are maintained in a safe condition during their
operating lives. Safety Inspections may be accomplished in one of two ways:
(i) Periodic Examination Scheme (PES): is generally used by small operators and requires
display of the next examination date on the CSC safety approval plate. The interval
from the date of manufacture to the date of the first examination shall not exceed five
years. Subsequent examination of new containers and re-examination of existing
containers shall be at intervals of not more than thirty months. All examinations shall
determine whether the container has any defects which could place any person in
danger.
(ii) Approved Continuous Examination Programme (ACEP): is based on the premise that
safety examinations taking place in the normal operation of the container meet CSCs
examination requirements. ACEP is assigned to the owner / operator of the container
by the Administration of the Contracting Party (e.g. in France by Bureau Veritas and in
USA by US Coastguard).

Markings on containers***
The container is marked with a series of numbers and information on the sides and on the container’s
righthand door. These include the:

i. Container Number;
ii. Container Code;
iii. Max. Gross Weight;
iv. Tare Weight;
v. Max Net (Cargo) Weight;
vi. Cubic Capacity.