Nearly everything we consume is transported by ship. The biggest container ships in the world are among the largest moving structures made by man and can carry over 24,000 20-foot container units. The standardisation of these simple metal containers in the 1950s and 60s marked a turning point in world trade, driving down costs and ultimately fuelling globalisation. Now that supply chains have become ever more complex and been put under increasing strain, we take a look at the history of the shipping container. Joining Rajan Datar are Marc Levinson, American historian and economist and author of The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger; Alan McKinnon, professor of Logistics at Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg and author of Decarbonising Logistics: Distributing Goods in a Low Carbon World; Yash Gupta, shipping industry expert with over 20 years’ experience in vessel management and logistics. Presenter: Rajan Datar Producer: Jo Impey for BBC World Service (Photo: Aerial view of a container ship passing under a suspension bridge with truck crossing above. Credit: Shaul/Getty Images)
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If you're at home right now, look around you.
There's a very good chance that the majority of the stuff in your house, from your fridge to the contents of your fridge to your phone and the clothes you're wearing, all arrived from far away in the same way by sea.
So prepare yourself for some eye watering numbers over the next hour as we try to get to grips with the sheer scale of an industry that feeds the lifestyles we have become accustomed to.
The shipping industry, like the biggest ships in the world, are among the largest moving structures ever made by man and can carry over 24,000 20 foot container units.
You can fit four football pitches on these ships and the stacks of containers can reach some 22 storeys high and container ships carry about 90% of goods traded around the world.
And yep, that means everything from bananas to baseball caps to beds.