23/06/2016

EvolutionofContainerships

THEGEOGRAPHYOFTRANSPORTSYSTEMS
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Source:AsharandRodrigue,2012.Alldimensionsareinmeters.LOA:Lengthoverall.

EvoluonofContainerships
Sincethebeginningofcontainerizaoninthemid1950s,containershipsundertooksixgeneralwavesofchanges,each
represenngnewgeneraonsofcontainership:
A)Earlycontainerships.Therstgeneraonofcontainershipswascomposedofmodiedbulkvesselsortankersthat
couldtransportup1,000TEUs.Therstcontainership,the"IdealX"wasaconvertedWorldWarIIT2tanker.Thecontainer
wasatthebeginningofthe1960sanuntestedtransporttechnologyandreconverngexisngshipsprovedouttobeof
lowercostsandlessrisky.Theseshipswerecarryingonboardcranessincemostportterminalswerenotequippedto
handlecontainers.Theywerealsorelavelyslow,withspeedsofabout18to20knotsandcouldonlycarrycontainerson
theconverteddecksandnotintheirbellyhold.Oncethecontainerbegantobemassivelyadoptedatthebeginningofthe
1970s,theconstruconoftherstfullycellularcontainerships(FCC;secondgeneraon)enrelydedicatedforhandling
containersstarted.Allcontainershipsarecomposedofcellslodgingcontainersinstacksofdierentheightdependingon
theshipcapacity.Cellularcontainershipalsooertheadvantageofusingthewholeshiptostackcontainers,including
belowdeck.Usuallyanextraoftwocontainersinwidthcanbecarriedabovedeckthanbelowdeck.Craneswereremoved
fromtheshipdesignsothatmorecontainerscouldbecarried(cranesremaintodayonsomespecializedcontainerships).
Theabilityofportstohandlecellularcontainershipsceasedtobeamajorconcernwiththesengofspecialized
containerterminalsaroundtheworld.Cellularcontainershipswerealsomuchfasterwithspeedsof2024knots,which
wouldbecomethespeedofreferenceincontainerizedshipping.
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EvolutionofContainerships

B)Panamax.Duringthe1980seconomiesofscalerapidlypushedfortheconstruconoflargercontainerships;thelarger
thenumberofcontainersbeingcarriedthelowerthecostsperTEU.Theprocessbecameavirtuouscirclecompounding
largervolumesandlowercosts,whichsignicantlyhelpedthediusionofthecontainer.ThesizelimitofthePanama
Canal,whichcametobeknownasthepanamaxstandard,wasachievedin1985withacapacityofabout4,000TEUs.
Oncethislimitwasachieved,adecadepassedbeforeanewgeneraonoflargercontainershipswasdesigned.Atthe
samemepanamaxcontainershipdesignswereevolvingtotakemaximumadvantageofthecanal'slimitaoninbeam
(PanamaxMax).TheoriginaldimensionsofthePanamaCanal,builtbytheUSArmyCorpsofEngineers,aresimilartothe
dimensionsoftheUSInlandWaterwayslocks,resulnginanarrowandlongshipdesign.
C)PostPanamaxIandII.Goingbeyondpanamaxwasperceivedasariskintermsoftheconguraonofshipping
networks,addionalhandlinginfrastructureaswellasdralimitaonsatports.TheAPLC10containershipclass,witha
capacityof4,500TEUs,wasintroducedin1988andwastherstcontainershipclasstoexceededthe32.2mwidthlimit
ofthePanamaCanal.By1996,fulledgedPostPanamaxcontainershipswereintroducedwithcapaciesreaching6,600
TEUs.TherstPostPanamaxshipclasseswherenotmuchlongerthanthePanamaxclass,butwider.Ashipabovethe
panamaxsizerequiresasubstanalamountofcargotobeusedprotablyalongaserviceloopandbythelate1990sthe
rapidgrowthofglobaltrademadesuchashipclassamarketableproposion.Oncethepanamaxthresholdwas
breached,shipsizequicklyincreasedwithcapaciesreaching8,000TEUs(PostPanamaxII;"SovereignClass").Post
Panamaxcontainershipstriggeredaninfrastructurechallengeformanyportssincetheyrequiredeeperdras(atleast43
feetofdra)andhighlyecient,butcostly,portainers.Draconstraintsbecameafactorplacingpressuresonportsto
dredgetoaccommodatepostpanamaxcontainerships.
D)NewPanamax,orNeoPanamax(NPX).ReferstoshipsdesignedtotexactlyinthelocksoftheexpandedPanama
Canal,expectedtoopenin2016.Theseshipswillhaveacapacityofabout12,500TEU.LikeitsPanamaxcounterparts,
NewPanamaxshipswilldeneaspecicshipclassabletoeecvelyservicetheAmericasandtheCaribbean,either
fromEuropeorfromAsia.
E)PostPanamaxIIIandTripleE.By2006,athirdgeneraonofpostpanamaxcontainershipscameonlinewhenMaersk
shippinglineintroducedashipclasshavingacapacityintherangeof11,000to14,500TEUs;theEmmaMaersk,(E
Class).Theyweredubbed"PostNewPanamax"sincetheyarebiggerthanthespecicaonsoftheexpandedPanama
Canal.Afurtherextensionofthepostpanamaxdesignledtotheintroduconof"TripleE"classshipsofabout18,000
TEUsin2013.Itremainstobeseenwhichroutesandportstheseshipswouldservice,buttheyarelimitedmostlyto
routesbetweenAsiaandEurope.Therearelargershipdesignsonthedrawingboards,suchasthe"MalaccaMax"class
thatcouldcarryabout27,00030,000TEU,buttheyarenotexpectedtobeconstructedwithinadecade.
Containershipspeedshavepeakedtoanaverageof20to25knotsanditisunlikelythatspeedswillincreaseduetoenergy
consumpon;manyshippinglinesareopngforslowsteamingtocopewithhigherbunkerfuelprices(whentherearemarket
spikes)andovercapacity.Thedeploymentofaclassoffastcontainershipshasremainedonthedrawingboardsbecausethe
speedadvantagestheywouldconferwouldnotcompensateforthemuchhighershippingcosts.Supplychainshavesimplybeen
synchronizedwithcontainershippingspeeds.
Eachsubsequentgeneraonofcontainershipisfacingashrinkingnumberofharborsabletohandlethemandplacingpressures
onportinfrastructureandequipment.Marimeshippingcompaniesareincitedtousethelargestcontainershipspossibleon
theirshippingroutes,sincetheybenetfromeconomiesofscale.However,portsandinlandtransportaonsystemshaveto
providesubstanalcapitalinvestmentiftheyexpecttoaccommodatelargercontainerships.Therearethusoperaonal
limitaonstodeployshipsbiggerthan8,000TEUintermsofportsofcallandtherequiredinfrastructuretoprovidean
acceptableloadingandunloadingthroughput.Also,largecontainershipdeploymentsrequireasubstanalamountofcargoto
becommerciallyfeasible.Containershipsintherangeof5,500to6,500TEUappeartobethemostexibleintermsoftheports
theycanaccessandtheymarkettheycanservicesinceusinglargershipsrequirefewerportcalls.Therefore,thelimitsto
economiesofscaleincontainershippingaremuchmorelimitedbycommercialaributesthanbytechnicalconstraints.
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Copyri ght19982016,Dr.Jea nPa ul Rodri gue,Dept.ofGlobalStudies&Geography,Hofstra Uni vers i ty,NewYork,USA.
Thi s materi a l (i ncl udi nggra phi cs )ca nnotbecopi edorredi stri buted,i nwhol eori npa rt,i nANYFORM(pri ntedorel ectroni c)a ndonANYMEDIA.Fors peci cus es
permi s s i onMUSTberequesteda ndthemateri a l mustbeci ted.

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