貨櫃化的發展 - 1.2 貨櫃的流向

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

1.2 Container flows

貨櫃的流向

The huge investments made in containerization have paid off and container traffic is still continuing to grow. Although growth will not be as unbridled as in the past, it will continue until all conventional transport operations have, within a container's limits of capacity and weight, been containerized.
貨櫃化進程中的巨額投資已獲得回報，貨櫃運輸量仍在持續成長。儘管成長速度不會像過去那樣爆發式成長，但這種成長趨勢仍將持續下去，直至所有傳統運輸方式在貨櫃容量和重量限制範圍內實現貨櫃化。

By then, it is estimated that there will be some 8,000 ships in operation with a total slot capacity of nine to ten million standard containers. There will be approximately the same number of containers ashore being packed or unpacked, awaiting stuffing or unstuffing or being transferred. The majority of these containers are standard 20' box containers. While there are special containers for many applications, growth rates for these are not significant.
屆時，預計將有約8,000艘船舶投入運營，總箱位容量達到900萬至1000萬個標準箱。而岸上也將有大約相同數量的貨櫃處於裝箱或拆箱狀態，或等待裝箱、拆箱或轉運。這些貨櫃大多是標準的20英尺貨櫃。雖然有其他多種用途的專用貨櫃，但這些貨櫃的成長率並不像標準箱那麼顯著。

From the standpoint of container traffic, it would be ideal for there to be a balance between incoming and outgoing containers in a particular region, not only in terms of numbers, but also in terms of container type and weight. Unfortunately, such a balance is not achievable. There will thus always be empty containers to be transported in one direction or another. From the shipping company's standpoint, general purpose containers usable in any circumstances would be a major advantage. Forwarders, on the other hand, would prefer special containers if they could be carried at identical cost, as packing and securing is much easier in a special container than in a standard container.
從貨櫃運輸的角度來看，理想的情況是，特定地區的進出貨櫃數量、貨櫃類型和重量都能保持平衡。然而，這種平衡在實務上卻難以實現。因此，總會有空箱需要運送到不同的地區。從船公司的角度來看，通用貨櫃在任何情況下都能使用，這將是一大優勢。但從另一方面來看，如果運輸成本相同，則貨運代理更傾向於使用專用貨櫃，因為專用貨櫃的包裝和固定都比標準貨櫃容易得多。

For example, steel sheet in coils can very quickly be loaded onto coil containers and straightforwardly secured. They are rather more difficult to pack and secure on flatracks, while they are particularly difficult to pack and secure in box containers. Shipowners accepting containers loaded with coils for transport to Colombia would, if the rolls of sheet steel were shipped in coil containers, also have to take a large number of empty standard ventilated containers to Colombia in order to transport coffee from Colombia to Europe. Moreover, the coil containers, which are of no further use in Colombia, would have to be transported empty to somewhere where they could be used again. As a result, steel sheet in coils will be transported to Colombia in "coffee containers" which are less suitable for carrying such cargoes.
例如，卷狀鋼板可以快速裝載到卷狀貨櫃中並直接固定。在平板貨櫃上包裝和固定卷狀鋼板則相對困難，而在箱式貨櫃中則尤其困難。但如果卷狀鋼板使用卷狀專用貨櫃運輸到哥倫比亞，那麼接受裝載卷狀專用貨櫃運往哥倫比亞的船東，還必須攜帶大量空置的標準貨櫃前往哥倫比亞，以便將哥倫比亞的咖啡出口到歐洲。而這些捲狀專用貨櫃在哥倫比亞卻不再有捲狀貨物出口，還必須以空櫃搬運到可以再次使用的地方。因此，船東較傾向使用不太適合運輸此類貨物的一般標準型貨櫃將捲狀鋼板運往哥倫比亞，以便該貨櫃還能在哥倫比亞繼續裝載咖啡豆出口。

Another example: in order to save on the higher freight costs associated with using tank containers, flexitanks are placed inside normal standard box containers, the walls of which are frequently damaged by surging of the liquid in the flexitanks.
另一個例子：為了節省使用罐式貨櫃帶來的較高運費，人們會將液袋放置在普通的標準箱式貨櫃內，而標準箱的箱壁經常會因液袋內的液體湧動而受損。

A further example: containers exported from Europe to East Asia are, on average, heavier than those imported from East Asia. If it is to be possible to export the bulkier cargoes from East Asia, empty containers will have to be transported to East Asia. If many 40' containers are required to carry "light" cargoes from East Asia to Europe, it is sensible also to use these containers in Europe to carry "heavy" cargoes to East Asia. Users of these containers get plenty of transport space, the volume of which is not actually required, plus a "securing problem" because such containers cannot be tightly packed.
再舉一個例子：從歐洲出口到東亞的貨櫃平均比從東亞進口的貨櫃更重。如果要從東亞出口體積較大的貨物，就必須先將空箱運往東亞。如果需要大量40英尺貨櫃將「輕」貨物從東亞運往歐洲，那麼在歐洲使用這些40英尺貨櫃將「重」貨物運回東亞也是合理的。然而因荷載重量限制，「重」貨物無法塞滿整個40英尺貨櫃，由於這些貨櫃無法緊密包裝，因此也存在「貨物固定問題」。

The majority of the world's container stocks are owned by shipping companies. Quite a few are, however, leased in both large and small numbers to shipowners or other interested parties by leasing companies. Some forwarders ship goods in their own containers, but these are generally special containers for bulk cargoes, tank containers for chemicals or beverages or coil containers for the steel industry etc.
世界上大多數貨櫃庫存歸航運公司所有。然而，也有相當一部分貨櫃由租賃公司以或大或小的數量出租給船東或其他相關方。一些貨運代理商使用自己的貨櫃運輸貨物，但這些私有貨櫃通常是散裝貨物的專用貨櫃、化學品或飲料的罐式貨櫃或鋼鐵業的捲材貨櫃等。