Shipping Containers Blog

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What can Shipping Containers do that can help with the flooding? 

The floods in Cumbria have meant that many peoples’ homes and businesses are under water.   Whilst the situation is still ongoing there is nothing they can do about their possessions but when the rivers eventually subside and repair work is carried out to their property shipping containers are ideal for emergency container storage for their possessions.   Guaranteed to be wind and watertight, shipping containers are designed to withstand marine conditions and so are ideal for secure storage.  Businesses can hire shipping container conversions in the form of site offices and site accommodation so that they can carry on working.

Many other countries use shipping containers for emergency accommodation and storage.   The Red Cross made use of 20ft containers during Hurricane Katrina both as stores and mobile first aid units.   Australia and New Zealand have regularly used Shipping Containers to provide shelter in remote areas.   The list goes on.   The fact is that the extemely robust nature of shipping containers and the fact that they are designed to be easily transported by air, road, sea or rail makes them ideal for many emergency situations.  

As the rain is due again this weekend, the news will focus on all those effected and we can only hope that there is as little damage to life and property as possible.   In the clear up that follows let us all hope that whatever help is needed is quickly offered - Shipping Containers will no doubt play their part.

Apparently the shipping container came about due to the fact that an American trucker, Malcolm McLean, whilst queuing at Jersey City Pier in 1937, realised that it would be quicker to have the whole truck body lifted onto the ship.   18 years later, he decided on the strength of that light-bulb moment, he bought a war-surplus tanker and equipped it to carry 33 ft containers.

In truth, ship lines and railways had been experimenting with containers for over half a century before 1937 but it took someone with the insight of McLean to realise that the real issue was making the transportation of cargo inter-modal - ie in a standard sized container that could move between rail, road and sea transport without the need for lots of manpower and many different sized machines.  The standard sized shipping containers meant that the prices of moving goods could be brought down and as a result the cost of many things became more affordable - and more varied - to the customer.

Today, the standard sizes of shipping containers are 40ft and 20ft containers.   There are other sizes available such as 8ft and 10ft but these are less common and often more expensive to transport - particularly by sea. 

Many ports were developed as a result of shipping containers - such as Felixstowe in Suffolk - able to take advantage of cheap land and good transport links.   Nowadays one-and-a-half million 40ft containers arrive at ports throughout the world each week.

One of the by products of this amount of containers is the market for second hand used containers.   The excess containers at ports are used for domestic storage, shipping container conversions such as offices and accommodation - even for housing data centres.

Whether or not there is any truth in Malcolm McLean’s “eureka” moment it certainly has had a big impact on all our lives.

How on earth can a shipping container be of use at any of the many festivals going on in the UK this Summer?  Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the fact that shipping containers are so easily transportable and adaptable, which has meant that they have been used in a variety of different ways from Glastonbury to the Game Fair.

Perhaps the most obvious way in which they are used is in the form of refrigerated shipping containers.   The fact that goods, such as drinks or food can be kept in the temperature controlled environment of a refrigerated container which can be run either from a generator or connected to an electricity supply means that they are in great demand.   They are available for hire or for purchase.

Shipping Container Conversions such as those use to house cashpoints are also extremely popular.  As well as containers converted into stands or bars.  The coffee shop here is taken round the various festivals in Italy, although there are plans to build some in the UK.

Shipping container coffee shop closed

But of course, the most common use is as storage containers.   Keeping stock secure yet easily accessible  is vital both when travelling or when the stand at the festival is set up when the container becomes a store room.

These are just some of the ways in which you might see a shipping container used should you visit a Festival this year.   Let us know if you see any more - and send us a photograph!

North Sea Oil Rigs had been using shipping containers for offshore accommodation for sometime when, shortly after the Falklands War, the British Army decided to rent what became known as the Coastel.  This in effect comprised of shipping containers that had been installed onto barges to provide floating accommodation - in this case in Stanley Harbour.

But there have been other examples of how shipping containers - or iso containers as they are known in the Army - have been used in the operational field.  In the Gulf War when the Allied Forces arrived in Saudi Arabia accommodation was very limited.  In fact the only shelter available was in warehouse and the shipping containers that were already in the port.  The 20ft and 40ft containers were quickly put to use as secure containers to store arms and ammunition as well as stores.  Many were converted into temporary offices and living quarters.

In Bosnia and Kosovo shipping container conversions were delivered as living accommodation, bedrooms and bathrooms to nearly all the camps.  The US Army uses similar conversions throughout Iraq today and the Australian Army even has Medical Operating Theatres in shipping containers which they move to wherever they are needed.

Who says that shipping containers don’t get everywhere?

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.

I am often being asked to give details of size and weight of shipping containers, so I thought it would be useful to attach a table giving the details.

These are the most common sizes of used shipping containers although there are, other more specialist containers such as flat racks etc that might be of interest to some of you and which we will feature on another occasion.

Recently there has been a change in the world of shipping containers.   The scarcity of 20ft second hand containers has meant that we are beginnng to see the price of 20ft containers being the same as, or sometimes more than, 40ft containers.  This will come as a surprise to many who think that the price of containers goes up the larger they are!

20ft used shipping container

If you don’t have enough garage space, or are looking for a secure, easily transportable solution for storing your car maybe shipping containers could provide the answer.

The roads at the weekends at the moment, are filled with vintage cars driving to various rallies and shows.  They look immaculate and well cared for but what happens to them during the winter months when safe, dry storage must surely be paramount.  Years ago, you would have found them stored in old barns and lock ups, perhaps even under converted railway arches and taking pride of place in people’s garages.   However, these days, many of these spaces will have other uses.   Barns have been converted into houses.   Most railway arches seem to be businesses of one kind or another.  Garages, are often converted into additional space or granny flats as people can not afford to move.  

Vintage cars have so much historical, and often financal, value these days.   They are, after all, irreplacable.   As such the security aspect of storage is of paramount importance.   A steel shipping container, fitted with locking rods and lock cowls provides inexpensive and secure storage containers.  A car will fit into the container and kept in weatherproof conditions until it is required.   If the car is extremely valuable, additional security can be provided in the form of monitors that will transmit to a mobile phone - or computer or similar device - when the container is moved  (and use satellite trackers so you know exactly where the container is!) or even inform the owner when the container doors are opened.  

Condensation can be controlled by using moisture traps so that there is no possibilty of mould to the leather and rubber in the car.

TVR Griffith

TVR Griffith being loaded into shipping container

If there are concerns about adding additional mileage to the car, don’t forget that the vintage car can even be transported to the location within the shipping container itself.   After all shipping containers are often used to ship cars abroad - or even into this country.  Chocks are placed under the wheels and the car is secured to the lashing rings in the container to provide stability.

But vintage cars are not the only vehicle that can make use of shipping containers.   Refrigerated containers can be used to test prototypes of cars at various temperatures.   Range Rover recently tested their latest model at a temperature of -20C using a refrigerated shipping container to provide a controlled environment.

Self Storage Depots have seen a rise in the number of cars that are stored in their containers.   Often 20ft containers are used to store the owner’s car  at a reasonable cost whilst their driving ban is in force.   With 24 hour security they provide an ideal solution.

Whatever the reason for needing to store your car, shipping containers could provide an economic, secure and practical solution to your problem.

These are made of numbers of shipping containers, either 20ft or 40ft, often piled up 5 or 6 high and used as either windbreaks, enclosures or even as giant advertising hoardings.

Recently, the film Gulliver’s Travels, which is being made at Pinewood Studios, used over 80 second hand shipping containers - both 20ft and 40ft - to form a backdrop.   Covered with green cloth, the shipping containers were cheaper to use, and quicker to assemble , than the more conventional scaffolding.  

The world of drama often uses shipping containers, indeed the second series of the highly popular drama “The Wire” as based around the freight port in Baltimore.  Closer to home “Dr Who” has used shipping containers.

We have also got used to seeing walls of containers used as advertising hoardings.  Companies all across the UK are using the walls to promote their profile - often using additional container doors set into the back of the wall of containers so that they can be used for traditional storage as well.

Today is the European Team Championships for the world of athletics.  The stadium in Leira, Portugal, although traditionally constructed, is brightly coloured and made me think of shipping containers.     With the approach of the 2012 olympics maybe we should consider using shipping containers to quickly form stadiums for our athletes to practice in.   Obviously this could be taken up to the ultimate level with shipping containers converted into actual stands of seating, but at their simplest  they would provide the ideal windbreak.

Shipping Container Walls maybe the most basic of  “conversions” but they certainly have their uses!