In the early 1980s, standard containerships were designed to transport approximately 3,000 shipping containers, each equivalent to 20 feet (TEU), primarily on international journeys connecting the five main continents.
In the previous year, the leading Taiwanese shipping company received the world’s largest containership, a colossal 24,000-TEU vessel. This marked an eight-fold increase in unit ship capacity over the past 40 years.
The global significance of this substantial surge in containership capacity cannot be overstated; presently, approximately 60% of all internationally traded cargo by sea is transported in containers.
What is indisputable is that the various industry sectors supporting shipping—regulators, port and terminal operators, insurers, etc.—have faced significant challenges in aligning their rules, products, and infrastructure with the rapidly evolving sizes of ships since this notable increase in capacity.
Learn more here: https://www.wtwco.com/en-ca/insights/2023/12/keeping-up-with-containership-capacity-next-generation-cranes-are-key-to-efficient-port-operations
