A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.
Two Maersk Line container ships
Container ships avoid the complex stevedoring of break-bulk shipping
The earliest container ships were converted T2 tankers in the 1940s after World War II
Container ship Tan Cang 15 on the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built of welded steel, and with some exceptions generally have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before being scrapped.
Cargo ship at Puerto Cortés in Honduras.
A container ship unloading at Zanzibar, Tanzania
A US cargo ship off McMurdo Station, Antarctica
General cargo ship Namibia