Practice question · Multiple choice
Why did containerisation transform shipping costs when the ocean crossing itself was already cheap?
Hints
- Where did a ship spend most of its time?
- What did armies of dockers actually do?
Show the answer
C. The port, not the crossing
Why
The ocean was never the problem, loading was. Break-bulk meant handling every piece by hand; McLean’s steel box in 1956 turned that into one crane movement, and the cost collapsed toward irrelevance.
Practise Economic Geography and Trade Routes
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