Container Ship Law and Legal Definition
Container ships are cargo ships that carry their entire load in truck-size intermodal containers. This is made possible by a technique called containerization. A container ship is constructed in such a way to easily stack standard intermodal containers near and on top of each other as well as on deck. The design helps efficient loading, unloading, and transport to and from the vessel. A standard container ship is a merchant ship designed to transport a unit load of standard-sized containers 8 feet square and 20 or 40 feet long. Container ships usually carry in the range of 25,000 to 50,000 deadweight tons. Examples of specialized types of container ships are the LASH and SeaBee which carry floating containers and RoRo ships, which may carry containers on truck trailers.
