August 26, 2009

Box Boats

The Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company launched the first container transport ship in 1956. The Ideal X was on a return trip, but rather than return without cargo, she had 56 boxes strapped to one of her decks, inaugurating what the company hoped would become a new Land-Sea Service. Todays container ships are much larger, carrying an average of 9000 container boxes, with even larger ships currently in design. These ships have changed the way that freight goods are transported around the world--from the ports that are used to the trains, trucks, and other vehicles required to transport them to and from these ports. This book tells the history of the container shipping industry and the way that it has impacted the transportation of cargo beyond the steamship.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Box Boats: How Container Ships Changed the World
Brian J. Cudahy
HE 566 .C6 2006