[hope_full]

This morning on my way to church, I passed the Norfolk International Terminal, which does a lot of shipping and cargo business. The cranes and toploaders are usually busy, unloading and shuffling their cargo around the port. I'm told it's one of the busier ports in the country.

Today, I saw something I'd never seen before. There was a virtual wall of containers, stacked nine high and who-knows-how-many deep. It's the most containers I've ever seen in my life. Must have been thousands of them on the 100+ acre lot. In the two decades I've lived here, I've never seen such a sight.

What's this about? Why are there so many containers PARKED at the terminals?

[Leanan]

I read about that.

Empty Containers Clog South Korea’s Busan Port as Trade Slumps

The article is about Korea, but it's a worldwide problem:

Empty containers, idled dockworkers and laid-up vessels have become a hallmark of ports from Singapore to Rotterdam that six months ago were straining to meet the flow of electronics, toys, cars and equipment. For Busan, surrounded by the world’s five biggest shipyards, the outlook is even bleaker after the glut of vessels caused a record decline in global orders for new ships in January.

Ironically, there's shortage of containers at some ports. The problem is that nobody wants to ship the containers empty. It's too expensive. So they pile up at some ports while there are shortages at others.

It's a result of the slowing of global trade.

[vision-master]

You can make a nice doomstead from cargo containers.

[TWilliam]

I once worked from an office in a container, while new offices were built. Bloody freezing in winter & unbearably hot in summer.

Light-colored, reflective paint on the exterior and insulation inside. A typical stick-frame house shell would be just as uncomfortable without finishing...

[Pops]

I saw a story a few months ago about paper going to China to be recycled was stacking up in San Diego because the Chinese didn't need to make boxes to ship stuff back here.

[alokin]

Trying to convert a container in a house goes around every other time. It's nonsense, at least as permanent solution. If you stack straw bales around, first I don't know what happens to the container being surrounded by soggy straw bales, I assume it'll rust. Second straw bales only insulate in a dry state. They keep only dry if you cover and render them. If you do all this, why the container? The overall costs of a building are 40% for the construction and the rest for bathroom, tiles, floors doors etc.
And it really makes no sense living in a container while mansions are empty.

[TWilliam]

Trying to convert a container in a house goes around every other time. It's nonsense, at least as permanent solution. If you stack straw bales around, first I don't know what happens to the container being surrounded by soggy straw bales, I assume it'll rust. Second straw bales only insulate in a dry state. They keep only dry if you cover and render them. If you do all this, why the container? The overall costs of a building are 40% for the construction and the rest for bathroom, tiles, floors doors etc.
And it really makes no sense living in a container while mansions are empty.

It's called recycling, or perhaps more accurately, re-purposing in this case. The point is re-using something already produced, rather than processing yet more raw material into a finished product. And while it may not be a 'permanent' solution, neither is a traditional stick-frame and glue-board house.

As far as moisture issues, those can be addressed in any number of ways. Besides, traditional construction has to deal with moisture just as well. Go look at a stick-frame that's been uninhabited and without climate control operating for a couple years in a humid climate...

[TWilliam]

[wisconsin_cur]

I saw a story a few months ago about paper going to China to be recycled was stacking up in San Diego because the Chinese didn't need to make boxes to ship stuff back here.

I have a friend who works for a company that uses waste paper here in the states. His branch makes the really cheap toliet paper you find in gas stations.

Expenses are way down because of the decreased competition from China and sales are way up as people buy the cheaper TP.

[dinopello]

I have a friend who works for a company that uses waste paper here in the states. His branch makes the really cheap toliet paper you find in gas stations.

Expenses are way down because of the decreased competition from China and sales are way up as people buy the cheaper TP.

C'mon, are they listed on an exchange? Do you have a ticker symbol for the cheap TP maker?

[TWilliam]

If there are a bunch of them sitting around empty, then perhaps we will soon see more people using them for shelter.

There was a comment that I found interesting with regard to that in the second video I posted above. The narrator said there were something like 7 million containers that entered the U.S. last year loaded with goods, but only 2.5 million that left carrying exports...

[smallpoxgirl]

A friend of mine has a container house. It's not bad. The main living area is a refrigerated container, so it came well insulated. I'd much rather own a container house than rent a stick house.

[eastbay]

My old job took me to the waterfront on occasion. I remember seeing many containers stacked all over the port... and most of them seemed rusty. In fact, I thought all of them were rusty. Isn't oxidation a bit of a concern with container housing? I like the idea btw, and was just wondering what the down sides are.

[smallpoxgirl]

In fact, I thought all of them were rusty. Isn't oxidation a bit of a concern with container housing?

I suspect anything made of steel and exposed to a lot of salt water is pretty constantly rusty. I don't think my friend's house was rusty inside. Probably not a bad idea to clean the outside and paint it.

[ubercrap]

AFAIK, just about any container that is steel is Cor-ten. Containers have been used for anything from crude cabins and offices to sophisticated, daring architectural experiments for years. Though a few have been close, I don't think anyone has really hit the nail on the head when it comes to exploiting the best aesthetic features of a container-based structure. I have researched this extensively and have drawn out plans for my own container dream home (probably never get around to it) that would blow away most everything I've seen.

[basil_hayden]

Sticking containers underground and painting some asphaltic coating on it takes care of corrosion, heat, cold, and general ugliness of these units.

[ubercrap]

Sticking containers underground and painting some asphaltic coating on it takes care of corrosion, heat, cold, and general ugliness of these units.

"Ugly" is a vague, highly subjective term. Sure, if you just took one straight off of the truck and moved in, that isn't really an attractive, suitable place to live. If that is the extent of your imagination regarding how these could be used as above-ground shelter, well, I feel deeply sorry for you.

[eastbay]

Some containers are made out of Cor-ten steel. A special steel that doesnot need to be painted. The rust on the surface actually protects the steel from deeper corrosion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_steel

Bloody ugly to live in though.

Gasmon

Ahhhh that's why they 'looked' rusty. Got it.