{"id":7136,"date":"2025-06-10T18:17:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intermarlogistic.com\/from-break-bulk-cargo-to-teus\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T18:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:17:43","slug":"from-break-bulk-cargo-to-teus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intermarlogistic.com\/en\/from-break-bulk-cargo-to-teus\/","title":{"rendered":"From Break Bulk Cargo to TEUs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The maritime container, now an essential component of the global logistics chain, is a relatively recent invention. Until the mid-20th century, cargo handling in ports was carried out manually and in a fragmented manner: boxes, sacks, barrels, and loose items had to be loaded one by one into the holds of ships. This process, known as <em>break bulk cargo<\/em>, was slow, uncertain, inefficient, and prone to high rates of loss or damage.  <\/p>\n<p>In 1956, American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean introduced the first <strong>standardized container system<\/strong>. His ship, the <em>Ideal X,<\/em> a converted tanker, transported 58 cargo units that could be transferred directly between truck, train, and ship without handling the contents. The efficiency gains were immediate: loading times dropped from days to hours, and operational costs decreased by more than 70%.  <\/p>\n<p>The true revolution came in the 1960s with international standardization through <strong>ISO 668<\/strong>, which defined the dimensions and technical specifications of 20- and 40-foot containers. This enabled global interoperability across different modes of transport and laid the foundation for <strong>intramodality<\/strong>, one of the pillars of modern logistics. <\/p>\n<p>Today, the container system supports over <strong>80% of world trade by volume<\/strong> and approximately <strong>70% by value<\/strong>. It is estimated that more than 20 million containers are in operation, making over 200 million moves annually. Moreover, standardization has allowed the development of automated terminals, state-of-the-art cranes, and mega-ships with capacities exceeding <strong>24,000 TEU<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n<p>This modular design completely transformed the economics of maritime transport, reducing transit times, improving cargo security, and optimizing costs throughout the supply chain. The container is not just a logistical element, but a clear example of how standardization can drive globalization and efficiency on a worldwide scale. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The maritime container, created in 1956 and standardized in the 1960s, transformed global transport by facilitating intermodality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[44,42,43],"class_list":["post-7136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-logistics","tag-containers","tag-logistics","tag-transport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - 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