There are two main types of dry cargo: bulk cargo and break bulk cargo. Bulk cargoes, like grain or coal, are transported unpackaged in the hull of the ship, generally in large volume. Break-bulk cargoes, on the other hand, are transported in packages, and are generally manufactured goods. Before the advent of containerization in the 1950s, break-bulk items were loaded, lashed, unlashed and unloaded from the ship one piece at a time. However, by grouping cargo into containers, 1,000 to 3,000 cubic feet (28 to 85 m3) of cargo, or up to about 64,000 pounds (29,000 kg), is moved at once and each container is secured to the ship once in a standardized way.
Containerization has increased the efficiency of moving traditional break-bulk cargoes significantly, reducing shipping time by 84% and costs by 35%. In 2001, more than 90% of world trade in non-bulk goods was transported in ISO containers. In 2009, almost one quarter of the world’s dry cargo was shipped by container, an estimated 125 million TEU or 1.19 billion tonnes worth of cargo.[8]
The first ships designed to carry standardized load units were used in the late 18th century in England. In 1766 James Brindley designed the box boat “Starvationer” with 10 wooden containers, to transport coal from Worsley Delph to Manchester via the Bridgewater Canal. Before the Second World War, the first container ships were used to carry the baggage of the luxury passenger train from London to Paris (Southern Railway’s Golden Arrow / La Flèche d’Or). These containers were loaded in London or Paris, and carried to ports of Dover or Calais on flat cars. In February 1931, the first container ship in the world was launched; the Autocarrier, owned by Southern Railway UK. It had 21 slots for containers of Southern Railway.
cortesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_ship