The Containerization Story: Meeting the Competition in Trade

During the 1950s, the United States was at a crossroad in trade policy. Confronting the nation at the time was the question of whether to return to pre-World War II trade barriers that would safely confine the economy, or to embrace an emerging world economy based on international trade. The most far-reaching advance in marine technology development in the past thirty years has been in containerized general cargo shipping. This chapter focuses on the development of container shipping and its impact on ports, the port authority, and connecting land transportation. Before the advent of containerization, a general cargo vessel would typically spend approximately half its life in port. A container vessel that has a set itinerary of a few selected ports faces quite different operational criteria than a breakbulk ship. On the East Coast, The Port of New York/New Jersey was quick to anticipate the potential in container terminal development.