How a Steel Box Changed the World: A Brief History of Shipping

As the container shipping industry continues to boom, companies are adopting new technologies to move cargo faster and shifting to crewless ships. But it’s not all been smooth sailing and the future will see fewer players stay above water.



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[TheBHAitken]

It's nice to finally see this curious corner of our infrastructure finally in film. I was introduced to this when I was assigned to Vancouver's ports, and I was impressed on how this simple change will continue with us even into space. Thank you.

[swissyodeler]

so basically some genius invented the box.

[fletchrfc]

The future doesn’t hold crewless behemoths, you always need marine engineers to keep the engines and systems running and deck officers to navigate the ship. There will always be a human element to running these ships.

[peggyt]

Fresh fruit was transported by ships before 1850 from Spain and Portugal to England. There was a small shipyard in Salcombe England that specialized in building small fast sailing ships. In the Victorian era, the well to do were very willing to pay the price for fresh fruit. The ships were called "fruit racers".

From wikipedia
In the 19th century, Salcombe was a centre for shipping in the fruit trade. Salcombe vessels sailed to Iberia, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean as well as to the Azores, the fruit cargoes were oranges and lemons from the Azores, and pineapples from the Bahamas and West Indies. Other cargoes brought back included ...

[Seamus]

One byproduct of containerization was the reduction of cargo "shrinkage" by longshoremen and other port workers-when all cargo was breakbulk, the odds of all of it making it off the pier to its intended destination was very slim...

[burdizdawurdOfficial]

To the animator who did the SD-40 at 1:12, nice job. It's not too often people can get their trains right.

[Guizambaldi]

A fun side of being an economist is to be able to grasp (and pay attention to) this type of "unsexy" technological innovation.

People pay attention to high tech stuff. Some do add a lot to the economy, but some are "sexy" stuff with useless applications. The fact that we can ship cell phones for 5 cents because of a box is incredible and goes mostly unoticeable.

[christopherderrah]

Part of the reason importing is cheap is the huge amount of government subsidies in the form of infrastructure (ports, roads, rail lines etc., fuel subsidies and the ships themselves. and of course the military protection of the shipping routes.

[steveger]

It is most certain that automation in marine jobs will increase, and crew sizes will be further reduced. But the crewless cargo ship will not be commercially viable in the next decade or two, even if we might see demonstrators. Having a bridge and deck crew to deal with emergencies is cheaper than the increased risk of losing a billion dollar ship and cargo to a computer malfunction. It's like in aviation, modern airliners could fly themselves, but with current technology, it would not be responsible.

[hubris_ssb]

What's crazy is how it changed the rail industry

[nemanja]

Heh, Tesla of the seas. I love that actual Tesla, the scientist, is finally getting more recognition through the car company of the same name which could leave a huge imprint on history. I mean he still deserves more but it's something.

[CardPhantom]

Very interesting video. When I go to visit family in Charleston, SC it's cool to see the giant cargo 🚢 on the horizon.

[bernalfiesaysip]

There are regulations that increase the efficiency of shipping for the safer environment. If the shipping industry is going to halt, the world would be in a greater chaos.

[berndiomebinot]

Permission to use this video admin for school project, Thank you in advance ❤️

[rhyskuzdas]

Leathem D. Smith & C. Ray Christianson invented and built the first shipping container system, trademarked under "Safeway Containers", in Sturgeon Bay, WI in 1945.

[emzee]

Shipping happened at least during the bronze age, significantly longer than claimed in this video.

[suburbansean]

0:54 “From New Jersey to Houston.” Yet it’s from Maryland to Corpus Christi if we go by the pin locations...

[corymcgrath]

Uh, instances of" bottle breakage"  drastically reduced in shipments of liquor
thanks to these steel cans.

[LucasPereiradaSilva]

Battery-powered cargo ships? It's like the Hendo hover houses and its 2-megawatt power supply required for a 40-ton regular building.

[SitandLearn]

Maritime shipping always wins as it's the most efficient way to transport goods. For me, I've also focused more on trade across seas and oceans. I see it's the most effective network above railways and airlines.