A large container ship is a floating warehouse that has to stay balanced, stable and ready to unload in the right order at every port. Behind each sailing is a stowage plan, a three-dimensional puzzle solved before the first crane lifts a box.
The unit: what a TEU really means
Capacity is measured in TEU, the twenty-foot equivalent unit. A 20-foot container is one TEU, and a 40-foot container is two. A 20-foot box holds roughly 33 cubic metres inside, a 40-foot about 67, and a 40-foot high cube about 76.
Heavy low, light high
Weight placement keeps the ship stable. Heavier containers go lower and closer to the centre line, and lighter or empty ones go higher up. Every container’s verified gross mass is entered into the plan, which is why accurate weights on your documents matter.
Discharge order decides position
Planners load in the reverse order of the voyage. Boxes for the last port go in first, and boxes for the next port go near the top of the stack. A container for a later port buried under cargo for an earlier one would need to be lifted off and put back, which costs time and money.
Special cargo has special places
- Refrigerated containers (reefers) are placed where power sockets are available
- Dangerous goods follow segregation rules that keep incompatible classes apart
- Out-of-gauge or over-height cargo needs specific on-deck slots
- Cargo that is sensitive to heat is better below deck, away from direct sun
What this means for your shipment
- Declare weights accurately, because the gross mass is a safety requirement, not a formality
- Meet the cut-off, because a missed cut-off can push your box to the next sailing
- Tell us early about reefer, dangerous or oversized cargo so a slot can be secured
You can follow the key stages of your own shipment on our tracking page, or request a quote for your route.