The Box - From Revolution to Evolution

“An Icon of the 20th Century”, “those steel boxes you see on the back of trucks”, “underestimated yet formidable tool”, “an integral part of our lives”  “facilitated the integration and globalisation of the world economy”, these are many of the accolades given to “the box” in its 50th anniversary year.   Malcolm Mclean turned inspiration into action in 1956 and so was born the sea container and an industry which today creates some 400 million container moves throughout the ports of the world.  Thus from local industries supplying local markets to a huge global network of shipping routes over sea and land to feed the economies of the world.

Intermodalism in its purest form, from land to sea by road, rail or barge and vice versa could not work to the same degree of efficiency without the information and equipment technologies that have created industries to support and promote ongoing drives to greater efficiency.   From “T” card to “BAPLIE” (electronic bay plan) to automated handling systems, the benefits can be easily counted.  In 1956 a general cargo ship carrying 8,000 tons of cargo would take up to 10 days to load or unload.  Today 8,000 tons is handled by our container cranes in around 5 hours.

Containerships carrying more than 8,000 TEU are now almost the norm and the 9,000 TEU barrier has been broken as containership size relentlessly moves towards the five digit zone from its modest beginnings in the 50’s and 60’s when a 1,000 TEU containership was considered amongst the biggest.

SCT has moved forward with this revolution and evolution from its modest beginnings in the 70’s handling less than 250,000 TEU annually to just approaching the 1.5m TEU mark.

Now part of the global network of ports owned and operated by DP World with its joint venture partner in Southampton, Associated British Ports, SCT is committed to continuous improvement in Terminal productivity and is well placed for continued success as we begin the second 50 years of “the box”.