AsiaContainers

Container made out of composite on show at Sea Asia

Attendees of this week’s Sea Asia exhibition in Singapore are able to get a glimpse of the Unit One, a container made out of composite developed by Swiss firm AELER.

As the 20 ft container is made of composite materials, it is much stronger than today’s steel boxes, able to carry 28 rather than 24 tonnes. The developers claim also that its aerodynamic exterior leads to 4% savings on fuel consumption.

Last year AELER completed 80 pilot projects with blue-chip companies like Procter & Gamble and production is now being ramped up to thousands of containers.

The metal shipping container has not changed much since its invention in the 1950s, but new inventions are being marketed including Staxxon from the US whose folding shipping container comes with an accordion-style design, while in India Shallow Waterways Shipping has developed a hexagonal container intended to containerise bulk shipments.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. Mr Chambers,
    A 30480kg ISO container carries a payload of about 28.2 Tonnes today.
    What Class approval does an Adler carry?
    Curious!
    Rgds
    Rajan

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