Shipping Containers Blog

Posts Tagged ‘cargo container’

Here at CS Shippng Containers we have been missing the Olympics. Susan, who handles the logistics side of the business has, in particular, been missing the swimming. So, at coffee we got talking about the recent posts we have filed about shipping containers being converted into all sorts of amazing things and linked it to the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London.

Apart from her talents in keeping calm and organising everybody so your cargo containers get to where they are meant to, on time and in the right conditition, Susan is an amazing artist. It didn’t take her long to come up with these 3 simple and fun ideas.

OK. We admit none of this is very likely, but it does make the point that, as our previous posts show, 20ft or 40ft containers are very versatile - not only as a source of inspiration for Susan!

If you have decided that the you want to choose a shipping container, how do you go about it?

The first thing to decide is what you want to use your container for.  It maybe that you want to ship it abroad or use it as domestic storage in a situation where appearance is very important.  In which case you should consider a new/ex-factory/once used shipping container.

There is some confusion over the term “new” container as opposed to “once used” or “ex-factory”.  In fact they all refer to the same thing.  Shipping containers are manufactured in China and shipped over to this country with one load inside them before being released into the domestic market.  It is these containers that are called new/once used or ex-factory depending on who is selling them to you.

They should all be in excellent condition.  The colours will obviously vary according to shipping line or the specification of whoever commissioned them.

Obviously these shipping containers cost more than good second hand wind and watertight containers but they are by no means un-affordable and will have an average life of 25 years from purchase.

The next post will focus on second hand cargo containers and what to look for when buying.

The Travelodge hotel in Uxbridge opened for business on August 15th. It was put together in record time and cost only 75% of a traditional construction.

The difference? It was put together from purpose made modular shipping containers which were shipped over from Shenzen in China to England, and then fitted together in a framework to form the hotel.

Shipping Containers are ideal for conversion into living space and the fact that they are easily transportable means that they create the minimum of disturbance to the existing infrastructure. But do we have to have containers especially made and shipped over from China when there are tens of thousands of good quality used shipping containers already in England just waiting to be converted?

Modern methods of insulation, ventilation and finishes mean that many options are now available to make the most out of the existing cargo containers we have in Britain. Surely this something we could be capitalising on in preparation for the Olympics where we will need additional accommodation quickly and cheaply?

But why wait until then? What about the nurses, doctors, firemen, policemen and teachers who all need affordable accommodation that is close to where they work? Wouldn’t accommodation made from shipping containers provide an affordable solution?

Shipping Containers are a fantastic start point for all sorts of conversions. They can be converted into so many different things - some of which we have featured in earlier posts.

Site accommodation, offices, classrooms, housing complexes and workshops are but a few of the shipping container conversions that are available.

shipping container conversion - cargo container city

How then, do you go about planning your own bespoke container conversion? The first step obviously  involves working out exactly what sort of conversion you require.   You should then ring some companies specialising in shipping container conversions and ask them for advice and to help you draw up a final specification.   Sometimes drawings are a good idea as it enables you - and them - to know exactly what is required and for you to agree on what you want produced and at what price.   Often you can have specific items detailed such as windows, personnel doors etc so that you can decide within budget how many you need or can afford.  Don’t forget that containers can be joined together to provide larger spaces.

Our next post will go through some of the modifications you can make to a shipping container that you may like to consider if you are planning turning a shipping container into an office, home or even a series of workshops.

We have been looking at how shipping containers make good homes and so today I thought that it would be fun if we had a look at some of the more eclectic uses that shipping containers have been put to.

Adam Kalkin’s developed the absolutely amazing concept above showing what can be done with shipping containers.  It was originally used in Italy at the 52nd Venice Biennial as a coffee stand by Illy but has subsequently traveled to the USA and elsewhere where it always makes an impact!  Not many cargo containers are able to do this at the touch of a button!

At the other end of the scale - at least technologically speaking - we have an example of a high rise building in Zürich which looks exactly like what it is - 17 old and rusty cargo containers.

The company has a strong ecological product ethos and so have used a shipping container conversion to make their 85ft high Freitag Shop.  It is connected by staircases and has a viewing platform at the top.

But shipping containers of whatever size don’t have to always be converted into anything quite as spectacular as the examples pictured above.  They are often found in much more everyday settings.  Our local garage has converted a 40 foot ISO container into a car wash which works very well.  Simon, our website guy, was out and about this weekend when he spotted this 20 foot shipping container providing shelter and security for a cash machine.  Thank you to him for taking a photo with his mobile!

But let us not forget the more everyday cargo container conversions.  These include chemical stores, refrigerated containers, smoking shelters, insulated containers, recording studios, tack rooms, p.e. equipment stores, offices, classrooms, roadside cafes, mess rooms and canteens to name but a few!

So, from the extraordinary to the everyday shipping containers can provide solutions on many different levels as a ecologically friendly, adaptable and highly transportable option for whatever conversion you are considering.

I would be the first to admit that shipping containers are not the most beautiful of things to look at - particularly when they have been in use for sometime. They often have dents and scratches on them and look shabby after carrying cargo for a number of years. So imagine my surprise when I came across this photograph which makes a depot full of new and used shipping containers look - well at the risk of sounding all poetic - like a jewelled wonderland.

These cargo containers are sited in downtown Chicago, and I would be the first to admit that the lighting has a large amount to do with the overall effect. Shipping Containers are really not designed to be beautiful, just practical. Yet, as we have seen before, shipping containers can be converted into beautiful things. Just look at this house which is made out of them.

So maybe beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all - at least as far as a shipping container is concerned?

Shipping containers do sometimes fall off the ships that are transporting them - usually during storms.  It is estimated that this accounts for the loss of about 10,000 containers a year.  This can prove hazardous to shipping as the containers do not always sink, but float at a low level making them difficult to spot.  However, there have proved to be benefits from the lost shipping containers as they have provided oceanographers with unexpected opportunities to track global ocean currents that they would not have been able to do otherwise.

One famous incident is that of a 40 foot container full of childrens’ plastic bath toys that was swept overboard in the Pacific Ocean in 1992.  The ship carrying the container full of almost 29,000 green frogs, blue turtles, red beavers and yellow ducks - known by the brand name of “Friendly Floatees” - left Hong Kong bound for Tacoma, Washington  when it ran into a storm in the North Pacific Ocean near to the International Date Line.  Twelve containers were swept overboard, including the one carrying the “Friendly Floatees”. Somehow, possibly due to a collision of some sort, the cargo container doors opened and the bath toys escaped.  The packaging around them disintegrated, and the bath toys - which have no holes to take on water - escaped.  This allowed Curtis Ebbesmeyer and James Ingraham,  who trace ocean currents using flotsam movements, to track their progress.

The release of 29,000 floating objects gave the oceanographer pair an advantage over the normal test model they used - namely the release of 500-1000 drift bottles.  The expected recovery rate in the Pacific is in the region of 2% so, rather than the 10 or 20 recoveries they would usually hope to make,  Ebbesmeyer and Ingraham hoped to find near to 600 of the brightly coloured bath toys.

Sure enough, 10 months after the storm, the “Friendly Floatees” of ducks, beavers, turtles and frogs that had escaped from the shipping container  began to turn up along the Alaskan coastline.  With a reward of $100 savings bond given by the manufacturers of the toys to anyone who found a floatee, the bath toys journey was traced through Alaska to  Washington State, back to Alaska and on to Japan then finally through the Bering Strait to the Artic Ice Pack.

The knowledge gained by the brightly coloured bath toys journey can help find those lost at sea, forecast the likely direction of spillage of oil or flotsam as well as helping to predict fish movements.

Two childrens books have been written about the journey of the Friendly Floatee bath toys, and the toys themselves now have become collectors’ items reaching in excess of $1,000 whenever they come up for sale!

If you are planning to buy a second hand shipping container for storage there are various factors that you should consider prior to purchase.

The most important is whether or not the ex shipping container is guaranteed to be wind and watertight.  Whilst in an ideal world it would be great to be able to inspect the container personally few of us actually have the time to travel to the nearest depot to look at used containers prior to purchase and so a guarantee is crucial.

If you are still concerned and you have an e-mail address it should be possible to get pictures sent so you can see how damaged or dented a shipping container is.  You should ask about the doors and the locking mechanism which vary in quality according to the make of container.

Some people are concerned about the colour of the cargo container, which varies according to the shipping line or manufacturer.  It is usually possible to get the container resprayed to a colour of your choice with dark green seeming to be the most popular colour.

Several of you have asked me to explain how shipping containers are used within the shipping industry.  I have been going on about all the different uses that the containers have once they are no longer needed for shipping,but haven’t said a word about the shipping containers in their original “vocation” as it were!

It may surprise you to know that shipping containers, in both the standard 20ft and 40ft sizes,  have been in regular use in the UK and around the world since about 1960.  In fact 80% of all imports to the UK come in through shipping containers.  Although the average life of container in the shipping industry is 10-15 years, only one in five of containers arriving on these shores,  goes back out on another ship.  The remainder are swallowed into the domestic market for various uses already described in previous posts in this blog.

Anyway, that all said, how does a cargo container get onto a ship?  Lorries arrive at the road transfer area of the terminal to drop off shipping containers for export.  A central computer has already devised a bay plan of the ship to maximise space,  and this computer sends instructions to a straddle carrier, pictured below, as to where to place the containers in a holding stack prior to loading.

When the ship is ready to load, the central computer then instructs the straddle carrier which container to bring to the crane so that the shipping containers can be loaded efficiently as per the bay plan.

Once the ship is loaded it can set sail and when it reaches its destination the process is repeated in reverse.

Simple really.  The really clever bit has already happened.  That is the standardisation of the sizes of containers so that the machinery such as the straddle carriers and the cranes could handle all the cargo being put onto the ship.  This greatly reduced costs and meant that shipping became an affordable option for all sorts of different cargo.

Today we would like to ask for your help in selecting our new logo for CS Shipping Containers.  The designs are meant to represent shipping containers and the sea.

LOGO ONE

This first logo is meant to represent a line of boxes in sea colours.  It is Susan’s favorite.

LOGO TWO

This second logo, designed by Simon represents a stack of cargo containers and has a very modern font to represent how shipping containers fit into modern society.

LOGO THREE

This final logo is my favorite.  It represents shipping containers in sea colours wrapping round CSSC as a wave.

Anyway, let us know what you think as we would be really interested to hear from you.