Offshore containers are shipping boxes that are built to transport a variety of products including office materials, chemicals, medical supplies, paper work, etc. They are used in transportation on massive ships from one port to another. They are built to last and are widely used in the international trade around the world. There are international and national regulations that offshore containers need to comply with in order to be used. Different ports and countries around the world may have different specification and an ideal offshore container complies with all of them.
All Offshore containers are reusable storage capacities or moving goods. Many of them are temperature maintained so as to carry medicines and food. The average temperature inside an offshore container is minus twenty three degrees approximately. Conventional ISO containers cannot be considered or used as offshore containers. Some of the reasons why they cannot be used are because at offshore, the load is extremely high and ISO containers are not really designed for this. ISO containers usually have ISO corners and not padeyes as in offshore containers. Most important reason is that ISO containers are not certified by local and global regulations for offshore purpose.
Offshore containers are usually leased or rented by many companies in order to reduce costs. Besides, these are manufactured in the same country they are required in or at the closest major port. If a shipping container is required in India then it isn't rented or bought from a US company. This increases the travel cost of an empty offshore container. They can be rented too depending on the goods it is carrying and the distance it will travel to. As a rough estimate, it costs anywhere between $85 per ton and $500 per ton for distance between Middle East and India.
Offshore containers are always measured in cargo capacity of twenty foot equivalent units which is also known as TEU. Of course, there are air freight boxes too but these are much smaller in size. The air freight boxes are custom built to suit an aircraft's specification and ground handling. The air freight regulation of for these boxes is governed by International Air Transport Association who has laid a protocol that these must be made in aluminum with a capacity of 407 cubic feet.
Like many industries, the trade industry too faces a couple of standard setbacks. One of the major issues they tend to deal with on a regular basis is the transportation of empty boxes. At times the cost of transporting an empty container overshoots the cost of stacked container due to route changes or port charges. To counter these problems, the cargo companies rent or lease out offshore containers thereby creating a win-win situation for all. Last year, post global recession, the demand for these boxes went up and so did the prices of using one.
Offshore containers are the best method to transport good through ships for international trade and through interstate trains across a country.
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