貨櫃化的發展 - 1.1 貨櫃的歷史

The Development of Containerisation
貨櫃化的發展

Digested from "Containerized Cargo Handling and Stowage"
First Online: 17 September 2024

尚作仁船長 翻譯 Translated by Captain David Shang

1.1 The History of the Container
貨櫃的歷史

In May 2001, Malcolm P. McLean, the "Father of Containerization", died aged eighty-seven. He used to say that he had the idea of rationalizing goods transport by avoiding the constant loading and unloading from one means of transport to another way back at the end of the 1930s at the port of Hoboken, when still operating as a small-scale hauler.
2001年5月，「貨櫃運輸之父」Malcolm P. McLean逝世，享年八十七歲。他曾說過，早在1930年代末，他在Hoboken港還是一家小型貨運公司時，就萌生了透過避免頻繁地從一種運輸工具裝卸到另一種運輸工具，貨物運輸更加合理化的想法。

To start with, McLean would load complete trucks onto ships, in order to transport them as close as possible to their destination. The development of standardized containers and trailers, moved by tractors, made it possible to ship just the trailers with the containers, so saving on space and costs. Later, the trailers were also left behind and the ships transported just the containers.
起初，McLean將整輛卡車裝船，以便盡可能地將其運送到靠近目的地的地方。標準化貨櫃和拖板架由拖車移動的發展，使得只需將貨櫃連同拖車一起運輸成為可能，從而節省了空間和成本。後來，拖車也被淘汰，只用船來運輸貨櫃。

Shipowners were more than a little skeptical about McLean's idea. This prompted him to become a shipowner himself and he appropriately named his company Sea-Land Inc. At the end of the 1990s, McLean sold his company to the Maersk shipping company, but his company name lives on in the name Maersk Sealand.
2船東們McLean的想法頗有微詞。這促使他自己成為船東，並將公司命名為海陸公司(Sea-Land Inc.)。在1990年代末，McLean將公司賣給了馬士基航運公司，但他的公司名稱卻以馬士基海陸(Maersk Sealand)流傳至今。

In the literature, the "Ideal X" is mentioned as the first container freighter. This ship left Newark on 26th April 1956 carrying fifty-eight containers, which it transported to Houston. The first ship designed to carry only containers is the "Maxton", a converted tanker, which could carry sixty containers as deck cargo. That was in 1956.
文獻中，「Ideal X」號被認為是第一艘貨櫃貨輪。這艘船於1956年4月26日從Newark出發，載有58個貨櫃，並運往Houston。第一艘專為貨櫃運輸而設計的船舶是「Maxton」號，它是由一艘油輪改裝而成，可以裝載60個貨櫃作為甲板貨。那是在1956年。

Another decade passed before the first container ship moored in Europe. The first container on German soil was set down by the "Fairland" at Bremer Überseehafen on 6th May 1966. The first containers used by SeaLand in Northern Europe were 35' ASA containers, i.e. they were constructed to American standards. In other regions, 27' ASA containers and other ASA dimensions were often used. Shipowners in Europe and Japan quickly recognized the advantages of the container and also invested in the new transport technology.
又過了十年，第一艘貨櫃船才到了歐洲停泊。1966年5月6日，「Fairland」號在德國Bremer Überseehafen港卸下了第一個貨櫃。海陸公司在北歐使用的第一批貨櫃是35英尺ASA貨櫃，也就是按照美國標準建造的。在其他地區，27英尺ASA貨櫃和其他ASA尺寸貨櫃使用的較為普遍。歐洲和日本的船東們很快就意識到了這種貨櫃的優勢，並投資於這項新的運輸技術。

The first container unloaded by Sea-Land in Europe
海陸公司在歐洲卸下的第一只貨櫃

Since American standards could only be applied with difficulty to conditions in Europe and other countries, an agreement was eventually reached with the Americans after painstaking negotiations. The resulting ISO standards provided for lengths of 10', 20', 30' and 40'. The width was fixed at 8' and the height at 8' and 8' 6". For land transport within Europe, agreement was reached on a 2.50 m wide inland container, which is mainly used in combined road/rail transport operations.
由於美國標準難以適用於歐洲和其他國家的實際情況，經過艱苦的談判，終於與美國達成了協議。最終的ISO標準規定了10英尺、20英尺、30英尺和40英尺的長度。寬度固定為8英尺，高度固定為8英尺和8英尺6英吋。對於歐洲境內的陸路運輸，雙方就2.50公尺寬的內陸貨櫃達成了協議，主要用於公路/鐵路聯運業務。

The majority of containers used worldwide today comply with the ISO standard, with 20'- and 40'-long containers predominating. For some years, the ISO standard has come repeatedly under pressure. As stowage factors increase for most goods, many forwarders want longer, wider and higher containers, preferably all at once. Some shipowners have given in to the pressure and containers of dimensions larger than provided for by the ISO standard are now encountered distinctly more frequently. "Jumbo" containers of 45' and 48' in length, widths of 8'6" (2.60 m) and heights of 9'6" (2.90 m) have been in existence for some years.
當今世界使用的大多數貨櫃都符合ISO標準，其中20英尺和40英尺長的貨櫃占主導地位。多年來，ISO標準一直面臨壓力。隨著大多數貨物積載因數的增加，許多貨運代理商希望貨櫃更長、更寬、更高，最好是同時達到所有尺寸。有些船東迫於壓力，現在尺寸大於ISO標準規定的貨櫃明顯增加。長45英尺和48英尺、寬8英尺6英寸(2.60米)、高9英尺6英寸(2.90米)的“巨型”貨櫃已經存在多年。

Efforts to build even larger containers, e.g. 24' (7.43 m) and 49' (14.40 m) boxes 2.60 m wide and 2.90 m high, are mostly confined to the USA. Even 53' long containers have been approved for use for some time throughout the USA, while some states will even allow 57'. In Europe and on other continents, narrower roads are a limiting factor. Developing countries are understandably against changing the standards. More details are given in the section entitled "Container dimensions and weights".
人們正在努力建造更大的貨櫃，例如24英尺(7.43米)和49英尺(14.40米)的貨櫃，寬2.60米，高2.90米，主要在美國境內使用。53英尺長的貨櫃也已獲准在美國各地使用有些日子了，有些州甚至允許使用57英尺長的貨櫃。在歐洲和其他各大洲，道路較窄是一個限制因素。發展中國家反對改變標準是可以理解的。更多詳情請參閱「貨櫃尺寸和重量」部分。