EMAIL PAGE PRINT PAGE EMAIL NEWS ALERTS DOWNLOADS FEEDBACK OUR SITES HOME ABOUT US INVESTORS MEDIA CLIENTS CONTACT US You are here: About us > Industry Overview > Container Market > Industry overview At a glance Company profile Our history Group structure Geography of operations Operating segments Key executive management Strategy Industry Overview Container Market Corporate social responsibility Industry overview Industry overview Terminal operations O&D vs Transshipment Market overview Key Russian gateways Container shipping was first introduced in the 1950s and since the late 1960s has become the most common method for transporting many industrial and consumer products by sea. Container shipping is performed by container shipping companies that operate frequent scheduled or liner services, similar to a passenger airline, with pre-determined port calls, using a number of owned or chartered vessels of a particular size in each service to achieve an appropriate frequency and utilisation level. Container shipping has a number of advantages compared with other shipping methods, including: Less cargo handling. Containers provide a secure environment for cargo. The contents of a container, once loaded into the container, are not directly handled until they reach their final destination. Efficient port turnaround. With specialised cranes and other terminal equipment, container ships can be loaded and unloaded in significantly less time and at lower cost than other cargo vessels. Highly developed intermodal network. Onshore movement of containerised cargo, from points of origin, around container terminals, staging or storage areas and to final destinations, benefits from the physical integration of the container with other transportation equipment such as road chassis, railcars and other means of hauling the standard sized containers. A sophisticated port and intermodal industry has developed to support container transportation. Reduced shipping time. Container ships can travel at speeds of up to 25 knots, even in rough seas, thereby transporting cargo over long distances in relatively short periods of time. Growth in global containerisation In 2010, world container traffic comprised 541,784 thousand TEUs, according to Drewry. The compound average growth rate (CAGR) of world container traffic from 2000 to 2010 is estimated at 8.6% compared with a global real GDP CAGR of 2.6% for the same period, according to Drewry. Key drivers that contributed to the growth in global container throughput over this period were sustained growth in global trade, increased global sourcing and manufacturing, a shift from transporting cargo in bulk to transporting cargo in containers and growth in transhipment volumes. In 2013, world container traffic growth amounted to 3.0%, flat with global GDP growth of 3.0%, according to IMF. © 2014 Global Ports Investments Plc. Delivered by global3digital Terms of Use and Disclaimer | Accessibility | Glossary | Sitemap