A Simple Box Which Changed the World
How could a simple box become the eight wonder of the world? The answer is before our eyes every day – the container. “Container shipping has shrunk the planet and brought about a revolution because the cost of shipping boxes is so cheap,” says Martin Stopford at Clarksons, the shipping broker. “People talk about the contribution of Microsoft, but container shipping has got to be among the ten most influential industries over the past thirty years. The simple standardized box that transformed seaborne freight in the sixties has taken on a vibrant 21st century life and the Internet may add a knot or two to the speed. With the Internet, operators have been allowed to cut paperwork and reduce reliance on middlemen. It also lets customers track their consignments more easily.
The shipping industry is booming, underpinned by solid economic growth. In the thirty years the boxes have been around, the amount of goods shipped in them has expanded at 8 to 10 per cent a year, and the industry is now worth an annual $ 100 bn. The expansion of container shipping far outstrips growth in the world economy, historically about 3 per cent a year, and even growth in world trade, which runs up by 5 per cent a year.
Before container shipping, seaborne trade was slow and unreliable. In the early sixties, at Liverpool docks for example, ships were made to spend weeks, even months in port while they were being unloaded. And during that time a substantial proportion of the goods would be stolen, or get damaged by the weather. Today the goods are protected in a container during passage and in port. With cranes specially built to lift the containers, a ship can be in and out of a port in 10 hours, saving thousands n port charges and speeding up trade.
The world’s container shipping fleet trebled in the nineties and it now accounts, by value, for more than half all cargo shipped. Ships can carry 7,000 standard containers compared with 2,000 in 1990. In 1980, to ship a 40 ft container from North America to Europe would have cost $2,500. Today that cost is $2,200. With vessels getting bigger, each new one adds to capacity.
Seaborne transport is so cheap it makes sense for Nike to have its trainers made in South East Asia. And companies in remote parts of the world can snatch business from under the nose of a local producer. In fact, if moving goods by container were not so inexpensive, trading many of the products shipped around the world today would not be worthwhile. Second-hand motorcycles are shipped from America to be sold in Europe where they fetch twice he price.
Answer the questions:
1. Why has container shipping been called the eight wonder of the world?
2. When did the container revolution begin
3. How has the Internet contributed to the container revolution?
4. How quickly has containerization grown?
5. What was wrong with the old method of loading and unloading cargo?
6. How can container ships be unloaded so quickly?
7. Have transportation costs continued to rise?
8. How has containerization contributed to international trade?
2. Translate the text:
Chaos at Heathrow’s New Terminal 5
When Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was officially opened by the Queen in March 2008, operator BAA said it would put the airport at the cutting edge of global travel.
The complex, which cost ₤4.5 bn., includes 50 new aircraft stands, a large car park as well as rail and underground links to London. It is designed to handle 12,000 bags an hour.
BAA claimed that checking in for flights would be simplified for up to 30 million passengers a year by online check-in, fast baggage dropping facilities and sophisticated baggage handling.
Two weeks later, on launch day, however, dozens of flights in and out of the new terminal had to be cancelled due to a breakdown of the baggage handling system. By the end of the first day, hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airport and there was a backlog of more than 15,000 bags.
What had gone wrong?
On launch day problems started almost immediately, when staff and passengers had trouble locating car parks. Delayed opening of check-in then led to long queues. Additionally, workers in the baggage sorting area had problems logging on to the computer system or could not handle the RMS (Resource Management System), which allocates baggage handlers to load or unload aircraft.
At check-in staff were not aware of the situation, they continued to add luggage to the system. As a consequence, check-in had to be suspended in the afternoon.
An aviation analyst later explained that the backlog of baggage was mainly caused by problems with the terminal’ three-stage baggage processing system. The first stage, the fast bag drop-off, was working as planned, but the second stage, an underground conveyor system, had become clogged up because baggage workers were not able to remove the bags quickly enough at the other end.
BA said that they knew the first day would be critical because of the size and complexity of the move into Terminal 5, and that they were working hard to resolve these issues.
Answer the questions:
1. What are the main logistics problems mentioned in this article?
2. Have you ever experienced similar problems at an airport?
3. How important is logistics for an airport?
3. Translate the letter opposite and answer the questions:
1. Why must the cycles be packed in seaworthy containers for transport from Melbourne to Brisbane?
2.What are the advantages of container packing?
3.Who pays for freight?
4.Who pays for container hire?
| Victoria Cycle Works P.O. Box 9271 Melbourne Australia Worldwide Dealers Ltd. Connaught Centre Hong Kong Attention: Mr. P. King 1st August, 2008 Dear Sirs, The 10,000 cycles you ordered will be ready for dispatch by 17th August next. Since you require them for onward shipment to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Nepal, we are arranging for them to be packed in seaworthy containers. Each bicycle is enclosed in a corrugated cardboard pack, and 20 are banded together and wrapped in sheet plastic. A container holds 240 cycles; the whole cargo would therefore comprise 42 containers, each weighing 8 tons. Dispatch can be made from our works by rail to be forwarded from Brisbane harbour. The freight charges from works f.o.b. Brisbane are A$60 per container, total A$2,520 for this consignment, excluding container hire, which will be charged to your account. Please let us have your delivery instructions. Yours faithfully, N.Foster Neil Foster |
4. Rearrange the sentences in logical order and complete the e-mail about an urgent shipment using prepositions:
1. The second delivery should be made on Friday with the rest of the 5mg 30 and the 90 packs. As the products are needed _______ Monday, the truck must be unloaded in Brest on Saturday or Sunday.
2. If possible, we must try to make one partial delivery ____Wednesday (or as soon as the packaging is finished) of the 5 mg 30 packs
3. Sonia, I’m afraid there is a problem _____ the scheduled deliveries ___ France next week. Our customer GLP Pharma in Brest has just informed me that they are already ___of stock and need an urgent delivery of the 5 mg 30 and 90 piece of packs this week instead __ next week.
4. We need a direct truck ____ our production plant in Germany and Brest.
5. Please let me know if there are any problems!
Regards
Jon Frederikson
Logistics Manager
6. If we can ship the first part on Wednesday morning, the truck should arrive ______ Brest Thursday afternoon.
5. Describe the container features to a partner using words from this unit, but before it bare in mind the following conversions:
pounds-kilogram foot-metre inch-centimeter
1 lb = 0.453 kg 1 ft = 0.3048 m 1 in = 2.54 sm
Partner A: Partner B:
| 20 ft standard container | 20 ft reefer | |||
| Max. payload | 47,999 lb | 21,727 kg | 45,760 lb | 20,756 kg |
| Tare weight | 4,196 lb | 2,229 kg | 7,040 lb | 3,193 kg |
| Capacity | 1,172cu ft | 33.18 m3 | 1,000 cu ft | 28.31 m3 |
| Inside length | 19 ft 4 in | 5.89 m | 17 ft 8in | 5.38 m |
| Inside width | 7 ft 8 in | 2.33 m | 7 ft 5 in | 2.26 m |
| Inside height | 7 ft 10 in | 2.38 m | 7 ft 5 in | 2.26 m |
6. Translate the text:
On 20th June, 2005 Kevin Hughes arranged for the transportation of a consignment of machinery by rail and sea. The place of departure was the Port in Southampton, and the destination was Queen's Harbour Master, Plymouth. It was an urgent delivery, i.e. in two days by 10 a.m. it would have to reach the destination without any delay. Kevin chose "Eurostar" as a train operating company and a crouse ship “Queen Elizabeth” as a sea carrier. The cargo (the freight) was 10 cases of machinery. The measurements of each case were 10 m by 2m by 1.1m, so the volume of the whole consignment was 220 cubic metres. Each case weighed 20 kilos, so the weight of the consignment was 200k. The freight rate was £1.50 per kilo or per cu metre, whichever was the greater. The charge by volume was £330 (220m3 Х £1.50) and the charge by weight was £300 (200k. Х £1.50). However Kevin decided not to send the goods as a conventional cargo because he could get a discount if he packed the goods in a standard sized container. Weymouth, Dorset and Torbay, Devon were supposed to be the transit stops. The train delivered the cargo into the port in Southmapton in time but there was a delay on the route because of a heavy storm, so the ship reached Plymouth only on 23rd June.
7. In pairs, ask and answer questions about the text in Exercise 6, like this:
P: What was the consignment? R: Machinery. Ask about:
| 1) the number of cases 2) the means of transport 3) the measurements of the cases 4) the volume of each case 5) the volume of the consignment | 6) the weight of each case 7) the freight rate 8) the weight of the consignment 9) the charge by volume 10) the charge by weight |
8. Fill in IMO General Declaration inserting all details from the text in Exercise 6: