Shipping Containers

The roots of QRX date back from the early sixties when East West Freights, a family owned Queensland general freight carrier, provided road freight transport services and rail forwarding throughout Queensland. However, QRX as it’s known today was set up in 1973 when TNT decided to merge its Queensland general freight operations with the ones of East West Freights to constitute the Carpentaria Transport Group in which TNT had a controlling interest (56%).

Twenty four years later, in 1997,TNT sells Carpentaria Transport to Toll Holdings whic becomes a Toll’s division being renamed Toll North. QRX has continued to trade until today, under the Toll QRX trademark.

The QRX general freight containers and the Rainbow Transport containers pictures date back from the mid-eighties (locations unknown). The QRX refrigerated container picture dates back from 1993 (Brisbane)

Images and text courtesy of Rene Buron.

This photo by Gordon Buchanan, posted to ShipsNostalgia, shows the OCL Mairangi Bay arriving at Auckland, NZ. Note the cryogenic 20’ reefer containers from Hapag Lloyd and P&O.

Submitted by Austin Radcliffe of Things Organized Neatly.

Although roll-on roll-off (Ro Ro) ships are probably the most common and cost-effective way of moving passenger cars, it is still quite common to move cars by container, especially for small consignments or high-value moves. Image courtesy of Industrial Crating and Packing, Inc.

Images courtesy of bubbleman

This piece of cargo is a whopping 94 cubic metres and was part of a large consignment moved from Germany to Mexico. It was handled by Tuscor Lloyds UK, and it was shipped as under deck stowage in the ship. Note the vintage platform container that the TAL flatrack is resting on!

Containerization arrives in New Zealand: the Columbus New Zealand arrives at the Port of Auckland, June 23, 1971. This was the first full-container ship to call in New Zealand. If you look closely, you can see early containers from Integrated Container Service (ICS), Interpool, Container Transport International (CTI) and Australian National Line (ANL). Columbus Line would later trade under the name Hamburg Sud.

Douglas Equipment of the UK has come up with a very interesting, space-effective and easily transportable means of moving containers for military applications.

The Mobiliser is an all-purpose, efficient and safe transport system for containers, military shelters, portable hospitals and kitchens that fit within ISO container size limits.

In effect it converts a ‘container’ into a road going trailer, fully air transportable with cross country capability.

The intrinsic geometry of the Mobiliser ensures that - uniquely - the payload container is transported, lifted and lowered completely horizontally avoiding the excessive and potentially damaging angles required for other demountable systems.

Information from Military Suppliers & News.

These are both incredibly beautiful photos. The first photo shows a Jugolinija ship sailing in front of the Twin Towers; if you look carefully or zoom in, you can see a few of the grey billboard logo Jugolinija containers that appear in the background of the second photo loaded on the ship. There appears to be an early ACL 40’ container near the bow of the ship, but other containers are difficult to identify.

This incident from 2003 was chronicled on the website of International MARSAC, Expert Marine Chemists and Safety Superintendents. 

“On board container vessel CMA CGM CAPELLA whilst alongside discharge quay Malta, one tank-container was discovered leaking. The tanktainer contains toxic cyclohexanethiol. Container has been made accessible for repairs and after repair redelivered to the manufacturers of the fluid.”