Containerization and its classification

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01/01/2022 678 Views

Containerization-Classification of containers:

1.) Cladding Materials:

Containers can be classified on basis of materials used for its construction. Consists of Steel (Plain/ Corten steel), Aluminium and Plywood/ Glass fibre reinforced plywood (GRP).

Cladding Material	Advantages	Disadvantages
Plain Steel	Cheap, strong and tough. Easy to repair.	Susceptible to corrosion. Repair requires frequent repainting. High tare weight.
Corten Steel	Strong and tough, Resistant to corrosion. Easy to repair. Cheaper than light alloys and GRP Plywood.	More expensive than plain steel. Welded areas require zinc reach painting. High tare weight.
Aluminium	Corrosion resistant. Easy to repair. Low tare weight.	Expensive, easily damaged. Suspectible to flexing and failure of fixing rivets.
GRP	Good insulation, Shock resistance, Long life span, corrosion resistant.	Expensive, Repair is costly and facilities and scarce. High tare weight.

2.) Size:

ISO recommends a container of length 10ft to 40ft (i.e. 10, 20, 30& 40ft). 20ft containers are the most common. They represent about 68% of the world’s total. ISO is just recommendation not a regulation. Hence many companies operate non-ISO containers as per the requirements.The main operators amongst them are “Sealand” having 80,000 containers of 35ft, “Matsom”, “APL” etc.

Application:

• Dry/General Cargo Units: Generally closed containers depending on requirement, they can have top/ side ends open. Bulk containers with two manholes at roof permitting load by gravity, garment containers with additional fitting for hangers and ventilated containers.

• Thermal Units: These can be refrigerated or insulated. Insulated are those without temperature control system and refrigerated have cold air circulation maintained within it.

• Tank Units: Especially built from stainless steel. May be tank for liquid or for compressed gas.

3.) Types of containers:

• General Purpose Dry Container:

A freight container, totally enclosed and weatherproof, with a rigid roof, rigid side walls, and floor, having at least one of its end walls equipped with doors and intended to be suitable for the transport of a variety of cargoes. This is by far the most common type of container. It is suitable for the carriage of most types of “Dry” goods, including those packed in boxes, cartons, cases, bags, bales, pallets, drums etc. With some suitable adaptations, such as liner bags, flexi-tanks, etc.) and adequate loading/unloading equipment, can also be used for certain types of bulk cargo (dry and liquid).

• Reefer Container:

Thermal container equipped with an electrical appliance (mechanical compressor) for the purposes of cooling or heating the air within the container. The Reefer fleet consists of 20’, 40’High Cube and 45’32/33 Pallet Wide containers (Euro pallet type). Transport of perishable goods in a temperature-controlled environment (Usual temperature range, from -25°C to +25°C.

• Open top Container:

Freight container similar in all respect to general purpose container except that it has no rigid roof but have a flexible and movable or removable tarpaulin cover normally supported on movable or removable roof bows. Open Top containers have movable or removable top end transverse members above their end doors. These containers are primarily used to carry heavy and or bulky finished products, whose handling and loading can only be performed with a crane or a rolling bridge. Especially for over-height cargo, loading from topside, e.g.by crane or loading from door side, e.g. with cargo hanging from overhead tackle. Door header can be swung out on all open top containers. If required, disposable tarpaulins can be provided For fastening tarpaulins, lashing bars are available on the outside of the walls. Using one-way tarpaulins requires the corner castings to be accessible. The capacity of the floor for use of fork-lift trucks exceeds the ISO standard by 33% on all 20’ & 40’ open top containers.

• Platform Container:

Especially for heavy loads and over-sized cargo. Strong bottom construction. Numerous very strong lashing devices on the longitudinal rails. Lashing devices have a permissible load of 3 000 kg (6 615 lbs.) each.

• Tank Container:

This type of container is used to carry hazardous or non-hazardous liquids (foodstuff). It is equipped with accessories to facilitate filling and emptying and has safety devices. Tank containers are pressure tested under periodical examination every 2.5 year.

• Flat rack Container:

Flat-rack containers have no side walls and are available either with fixed or collapsible end-walls. The flush folding collapsible flat rack, the most sophisticated of its type, has end walls which fold flush with the base. Dedicated for the carriage of items which are heavy, bulky, over height and/or over width. Their base is often designed to transport heavy material. Some 40’ flats are suitable to carry as much as 45 metric tons of cargo. The flat racks with collapsible ends also permit the transportation of over length cargo.

Hello Ranjan Sharma

Hello Ranjan Sharma