Look at many of the items around your home and some will probably have been imported from abroad by ship. Moving goods around the world by sea is the easiest and most cost-effective way to do it. But what has made it more practical is the invention of the shipping container. They're not the most amazing thing to look at, but because of their design, and especially their universal size, it means they can be loaded and unloaded on to huge vessels at any port that is big enough to accommodate them. The standardisation of these simple metal containers in the 1950s and 60s marked a turning point in world trade, driving down costs and ultimately leading to globalisation.

看看你家周围的许多物品，有些可能是从国外通过船运进口的。 通过海上运输货物到世界各地是最简单且最具成本效益的方式。 但使它变得更加实用的是集装箱的发明。 它们并不是最令人惊奇的东西，但由于它们的设计，特别是它们的通用尺寸，这意味着它们可以在任何足够大的港口装载和卸载到大型船只上。 这些简单金属容器在 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代的标准化标志着世界贸易的转折点，降低了成本并最终导致全球化。

Inside these versatile metal boxes could be anything from nappies to cars, and they are transported on container ships that ply our seas and oceans. They have been described as 'the monsters of the seas' because of their huge size. The very biggest are almost half a kilometre long and are piled high with more than 20,000, 20-foot-long (6.06m) boxes. In fact, the world's largest, The Port of Rotterdam, has a capacity of 24,346 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit) – an exact unit of measurement used to determine cargo capacity for container ships and terminals. With around 5,500 container ships globally, it's incredible to think about the amount of goods being moved around the world.

这些多功能的金属盒子里可以装着从尿布到汽车的任何东西，它们通过往返于我们的海洋的集装箱船运输。 由于体型巨大，它们被称为“海洋怪物”。 最大的箱子几乎有半公里长，堆满了 20,000 多个 20 英尺长（6.06m）的箱子。 事实上，世界上最大的港口鹿特丹港的吞吐量为 24,346 TEU（二十英尺当量单位），这是用于确定集装箱船和码头货运能力的精确测量单位。 全球约有 5,500 艘集装箱船，想想在世界各地运输的货物数量就令人难以置信。

However, because we now rely so much on these global shipments of goods, there can be problems when things go wrong. In 2021, the Ever Given, loaded with 18,000 containers, got stuck in the Suez Canal – blocking an important trade route. Countless businesses were affected by the delay in receiving their goods. One shipping company, Maersk, said the "ripple effects on global capacity and equipment" were significant.

然而，由于我们现在非常依赖这些全球货物运输，因此当出现问题时可能会出现问题。 2021 年，满载 18,000 个集装箱的长赐号被困在苏伊士运河，封锁了一条重要的贸易路线。 无数企业因收到货物延迟而受到影响。 马士基航运公司表示，“对全球运力和设备的连锁反应”非常严重。

Despite the occasional problems, our demand for goods is increasing, and so the shipping container is here to stay. George Griffiths from S&P Global Platts told the BBC: "We're seeing a lot more of the ultra-large container ships being built… the proportion of new ships that are moving over 14,000 containers is staggering." Each container can have a lifespan of up to 25 years. And even when the effects of wind, waves and loading takes its toll, some find a new lease of life as land-based storage units or even used as houses and hotels!

尽管偶尔会出现问题，但我们对货物的需求仍在增加，因此集装箱将继续存在。 S&P Global Platts 的 George Griffiths 告诉 BBC：“我们看到越来越多的超大型集装箱船正在建造中……运输超过 14,000 个集装箱的新船的比例令人震惊。” 每个容器的使用寿命可达 25 年。 即使风、波浪和载荷的影响造成损失，一些人也发现了作为陆上存储单元的新生命，甚至用作房屋和酒店！

词汇表

imported 进口
goods 商品，货物
cost-effective 划算的
container 集装箱
universal 通用的，广泛适用的
vessel 船，大船
port 港口
world trade 世界贸易
globalisation 全球化
versatile 多功能的，多用途的
ply 定期往返（于）
cargo （轮船或飞机装载的）货物
terminal 码头
shipment 运输
trade route 贸易路线
ripple effect 连锁反应
staggering 惊人的，令人震惊的
take its toll 造成破坏
a new lease of life “重获新生”，使用寿命延长
storage 储物，储藏