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On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:42:06 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:49:24 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

It is my considered opinion that all containers should be made so that they
will sink if they go aglub.

They will unless full of low density water resistant cargo. The doors
on the boxes are not watertight. Electronics, with all that foam, just
won't sink. CRT's are bouyant. So is wood. Depends entirely on the
cargo. With the right cargo a boxboat is basically unsinkable.
Read the empty weight stenciled on one that I spotted on I-80.
Something over 8000 lbs. and they would weigh over 40 tons if full of
water. That is way too heavy for a boxboat, some of those carry 8 000
containers. Those ships will not carry 300 000 tons. that is
ridiculous, so the boxes have to weigh much less. They mostly start
out very bouyant, but they are not watertight, like I said .Even so
they can't be guaranteed to sink. They will take quite a while to,
however. even if they do, eventually. A container washed off a ship
and spilled a cargo of bathtub ducks. Scientists collected data on
currents for years. Had it not come open, it would not have sunk until
it dissolved into rust.
There are the floating oil drums as well.

Casady

Actually container ships are rated in 20 ft equivalent containers, but
you are correct any container loaded with dense goods - machinery -
goes straight to the bottom.

In fact given that a single port - The Port of Los Angeles handles in
the neighborhood of 8.5 million containers a year and insurance
companies reckon that between 2,000 to 10,000 containers are lost per
year the numbers of TEU's lost vis-a-vis the total units in transit at
any given time is infinitesimal.

Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)