What The Tech?! Shipping Containers

5Gmb...M2Ub

1 Nov 2025

149

In this previous article, we took a look at the evolution of the container ship and explored why it’s been so influential to the modern world. After receiving some great feedback, there was plenty of discussion on the future of the shipping container as well.

While the container ship has been influential, the reality is that without the shipping container, the whole system would still be far less productive. With weight, climate footprint and durability all pressing concerns that help to influence the overall design, there are plenty of reasons to have discussions about the direction future development of the shipping container might take.

So, with that said, the shipping container is the star of today's show. Let’s go look at its story!

The Beginnings

Computerised loading and unloading facilities make it hard to picture today, but the reality was that back in the day, loading and unloading ships would be ridiculously inefficient. Not only would manual handling make the entire system move at a crawl, but the cargo itself would be vulnerable to theft, damage and other loss due to inadequate protection. Clearly, a better system would be needed.

The beginning of the container would come in the height of World War 2, when the US army would experiment would small modular containers that were used for overland rail transport. While they differed greatly from the maritime containers of today, they were still relevant in the sense that they were modular, standardised systems that aimed to increase the ease of handling. It’s worth mentioning, though, that these experiments were mostly “in-house”, meaning we hadn’t quite met the standard needed for globalisation.

This would come several years later in the mid-1950s, and as always, it would be the chasing of the almighty dollar that would eventually result in containers becoming globally known and standardised.

US Businessman Malcolm McClean would introduce the container to the world. Source: Wikipedia.

The Issue Of Broken Stowage

World War 2 would bring many new concepts into the civilian world, and one of the things it would help enable would be global sea freight. While it was by no means a new concept prior to the war, the development of reliable vessels made the system far more efficient and reliable.

This would end up being pretty relevant to US businessman Malcolm Mclean, who made his living freightin' vehicles to various places for commercial purposes. The ever-savvy Mclean soon realised that transporting these vehicles without taking advantage of the additional space would be pretty bad business for a freight company. As such, he determined that making use of containers to reclaim some of this space would be particularly useful in helping to procure additional revenue.

Once this concept had been identified, it didn’t take long for the idea to remove the trucks entirely and simply continue to load the containers as before. This would result in the invention of the “Box Ship”, the first modern precursor to the cargo ship.

The SS Ideal-X would undertake the worlds first commercial container run in the mid 1950s. Source: Wikipedia.

A Logistical Nightmare

In the modern world, you need more than a good idea to end up with a successful business and in the 1950’s this would be even more relevant. Despite having a sound concept, Mclean would initially be thwarted at nearly every stage of the process.

Due to heavy regulation and oversight of the freight industry, numerous laws were in place, and while they were designed to provide industry protections, advocates for deregulation would be quick to point out that they would stifle innovation as well.

The biggest obstacle would be the division between road and sea freight within the United States. As the owner of what could rightly be called a trucking empire, McLean would be forced to divest these assets should he wish to pursue his container idea.

A secondary yet just as relevant issue would be the financial resources needed to set up ports, ships and transport networks to be able to take containers. This wasn’t just a financial issue, either, as before any money could be spent, port owners and regulators would need to be on board with the new system as well.

All in all, while a successful venture would potentially provide much in the way of rewards, it was also clear that McLean would be taking on significant personal risk while doing so.

The first container ship would depart from Port Newark. Source: Wikipedia

A Basic Yet Efficient Design

With most of these issues solved, McLean would invest more than $20 million in capital to help ensure the success of his new venture and as such, more than 100 dignitaries would attend the maiden voyage of SS Ideal— X, the world's first container ship.

While it’s not uncommon to see ships carrying thousands of containers today, the Ideal-X would start with much more humble beginnings. A refurbished, ww2-era oil tanker, Ideal-X, would be retrofitted with a modified deck and would be able to carry up to 58 containers.
It’s worth mentioning at this point just how experimental the new system would end up being. Despite the concept being sound, there was no data on how the systems would perform at sea or affect things like vessel stability.

This would fuel additional controversy, as pre-established shipping companies, which were heavily invested in breakbulk techniques, had little incentive to change their ways.
At this point, the humble container was a clear disruptor to thousands of years of maritime history.

As the container took off, this would be a common sight in shipyards the world over. Source: Wikipedia.

The Modern Container

With each generation of improvements in merchant shipping, the container would undergo further refinement as well. As such, while containers have many common designs, the evolution of technology has ensured that efficiency and security continue to be considered as well.

While width, interlocks and volume are being standardised, the biggest changes would come from material design, along with the addition of new technologies to make the whole system work.

This would result in containers that would be light-years ahead of what would be carried by Ideal-X on her first voyage. Now, it’s not uncommon for some containers to be fitted out with things like refrigeration units as well as IOT hardware that includes things like shock sensors, temperature and humidity monitoring, GPS tracking and even lock/unlock sensors. There would also be ventilated containers, as well as passive thermal protection systems that can help protect sensitive cargo.

These were all great features, but the real secret is in the value that standardisation would bring. In the late 60s, when much of the controversy had passed, standards would be applied that would help lay the foundation for the modern, industrialised, cargo-processing systems that we see in today’s world.

The end result of this work would mean that a container could be built in Japan, then be stacked on a ship in Rotterdam, transferred to a train in Russia, before being moved by truck into Germany.

All this, without a single unpack. Magic.

Massive cranes are just one of the reasons why modern container systems work so well. Here’s the port at Copenhagen Harbour. Source: Wikipedia.

Future Iterations

It’s hard to look at a simple metal box and identify areas where one might apply a new feature, but the reality is that the shipping container continues to receive plenty of development and future research regarding just this.

With containers being used in pretty much every Western society, there are huge benefits to revisiting things like materials and features. As such, nearly every part of the container lifecycle is subject to intensive development that’s designed to make it even more efficient.

This means that new materials give us containers that are cleaner, lighter and greener than ever before, while new technology offers new ways of monitoring and protecting valuable cargoes. The introduction of AI technology also offers new potential focused on loading and unloading containers in port.

There’s even predictive maintenance and telematics technology that helps to identify structural or hinge weakness as well as reefer performance and efficiency.

The humble metal box will continue to surprise us for some time to come.

If you found this article insightful, informative, or entertaining, we kindly encourage you to show your support. Clapping for this article not only lets the author know that their work is appreciated but also helps boost its visibility to others who might benefit from it.

🌟 Enjoyed this article? Join the community! 🌟

📢 Join our OSINT Telegram channel for exclusive updates or

📢 Follow our crypto Telegram for the latest giveaways

🐦 Follow us on Twitter and

🟦 We’re now on Bluesky!

🔗 Articles we think you’ll like: