The shipping container, an 8ft x 20ft steel box, revolutionised global trade from the 1950s. Malcom McLean's 1956 Ideal X voyage cut loading costs 97%, from $5.83 to 15.8 cents per ton. Standardisation from 1968 enabled seamless intermodal transport, slashing shipping time and theft.

At London Gateway, DP World now moves 20,000 boxes in 40 hours via 146-metre computerised cranes. Containers carry 60 per cent of world trade value; over 280mn journeys annually. The largest vessel, MSC Irina, holds 24,346 TEUs.

Yet surging demand strains the system. 1.8mn containers are "missing" in congestion, per Sea-Intelligence. Asian export dominance creates empty-box imbalances, raising costs. Ports and chokepoints like Suez Canal limit ship size growth, threatening the 50-year era of cheap trade.