- More than 10,000 shipping containers are lost at sea every
year!
- 97% of all shipping containers are made in China.
- There are currently over 17 million shipping containers in the world, and five to six million of them are currently shipping around the world. They make about
200 million trips a year.
- 95% of the world’s cargo moves by ship.
- Shanghai, China was the busiest container port in the world in 2014. 35
million 20’ equivalent containers passed through the port.
- The port of Los Angeles processes 6,500,000 annually, ranking it #17 in
the world and #1 in the United States.
- Cargo transported in containers by the liner shipping industry
represents about one-third of the value of total global trade. This is more than $4.6 trillion worth of goods.
- Pirates are real! In fact, the rate of pirate attacks outside of
Somalia is higher than the crime rate in South Africa.
- The world’s largest container ships are about 1,300 ft long and have
engines weighing about 2,300 tons and propellers that weigh 130 tons. Each ship has about 1000 x more power than an average family car and there are about 21 stories between their bridge and
their engine room.
- To build the biggest ships to coast along the world’s oceans it can
cost in excess of 200 million US dollars.
- Ships are operated with sophisticated computers and are operated by as
few as just thirteen people!
- The largest container ships can carry the equivalent of 15,500 20’
containers!