Introduction

The first recognized container vessel was a converted World War II Tanker, named the Ideal X and owned by Pan Atlantic. Her first container voyage shipped 58 containers on specially rigged decks from Port Newark, New Jersey in April 1956. Malcom P. Maclean (1914 2001) a liner-shipping pioneer, was probably the accepted founder of containerized traffic. He received the Admiral of the Ocean, Sea Award in 1984 from President Reagan and Lloyds List nominated him as one of the three most influential men of the twentieth century, alongside Aristotle Onassis and Ted Arison.

The first fully Cellular Container Ship was a converted cargo vessel, the Gateway City , altered to carry 225 container units of 35 ft size. Her maiden voyage was between the Mexican Gulf and Puerto Rico but dock labour refused to work the vessel and the ship returned to the USA with her cargo.

Then the first transatlantic container line was started in 1966, and as they say, the rest is history. Door-to-door service met a huge customer demand and revolutionized the shipping industry. Containerization has all but obliterated general cargo handling, as the industry once new it. By the twenty-first century, nearly every commodity, apart from bulk products and heavy lifts, could be stuffed into a container.

The largest container ships are currently being built to carry just under 10 000 TEU, and it must be anticipated that this barrier will soon be broken and even larger vessels will join the world's fleets. The system brought with...