1. There are currently over 17 million shipping containers in circulation globally with the number of active shipping containers at more then five million. In total, they make around 200 million trips a year, according to Billie Box.

2. The first metal shipping container was invented by Malcolm McLean in 1956 in order to replace the old style of break-bulk container handling.

3. Approximately 97% of all shipping containers are manufactured in China. This is due to a lower labour rate in the country and that much of the world’s products are produced in China.

4. According to Grand View Container Trading, approximately 10,000 shipping containers are lost at sea each year.

5. It is estimated that there were more than 530 million containers in the world in 2010.

6. The liner shipping industry has spent over US$236 billion in more than a dozen countries on the purchase of new vessels that can carry increasingly astonishing amounts of containers.

7. If shipping containers are taken care of with regular maintenance, they can last for a total of 20 years, according to Container Auction.

8. 95% of the world’s cargo moves by ship. Due to higher costs, it still makes more financial sense to transport goods in high volume ships.

9. A standard TEU container can hold around 3,500 shoe boxes, and a 40ft high cube can hold more than 8,000 shoe boxes.

10. The Port of Shanghai is the busiest port in the world, handling more than 33 million TEU containers in 2013.
(Source : www.porttechnology.org)