In an homage to the humble container, the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is holding its first ever outdoor exhibition – Container: The Box That Changed The World.
Six brightly painted shipping containers have been placed in various spots around the museum, each focusing on a particular theme and creating an immersive experience with facts, stories, pictures and items.
The shipping container transformed world trade in the same way that the Spinning Jenny transformed manufacturing or the microchip transformed technology.
The brain child of transport entrepreneur Malcolm McLean, this ingenious modular steel box quickly became the standard across the industry, with ships, trucks and trains being purpose built or modified to accommodate it.

Step inside the world of the container:

SHIP
Learn the history of transporting goods in crates, bales, sacks and barrels loaded by hand, and how the container now allows the world’s 1.5 million seafarers to deliver 10 billion tonnes of trade each year.
CARGO
Discover the intricate world of trade, customs, and biosecurity, and how perishable goods are transported around the world in the ‘cold’ chain.
PORT
See the radical transformation of ports and port cities in Australia and around the world. Have a peek behind the scenes at Port Botany, one of Australia’s busiest ports and the gateway for 99 per cent of New South Wales’ container demand.
OCEAN
Explore the challenges mass shipping poses to our oceans, including lost shipping containers, cargo spills and acoustic pollution, and the current focus on sustainable shipping.
BUILD
Be delighted by the quirky and innovative ways containers are used beyond shipping, including ‘small homes’, food trucks, art installations and even swimming pools.
THINGS
Enter a glass-fronted container demonstrating the origins of everyday objects in our homes. The total number of kilometres travelled by sea by all the products in this container is 887,082 km.

For more info visit: ANMM – Container

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