SS IDEAL-X
SS Ideal X, a converted World War II T-2 oil tanker, was the first commercially successful container ship. On April 26th 1956, the Ideal-X left the Port of Newark, New Jersey to the Port Houston, Texas, which it called 5 days later. It carried 58 units of 35-feet (8 feet wide by 8 feet high) containers, along with a regular load of 15,000 tons of bulk petroleum. The 35 feet unit containers at that time represented the standard truck size in the
IDEAL-X General Characteristics
Ship Name
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Tonnage
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Length
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Beam
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Height
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Capacity
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SS Ideal-X
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16,460 GRT
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160M (524ft)
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9.1M (30ft)
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21M (68ft)
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58 units 33-foot containers / 10,572 GRT (Dead Weight)
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1st Shipping Container Loaded Onto Ideal-X
This first containership was converted under the initiative of Malcom McLean (1914-2001), a trucking magnate who saw the tremendous potential of containerization, particularly in terms of loading and unloading costs. McLean calculated in 1956, that loading a medium-sized ship the conventional way was costing $5.83 a ton. Comparatively, loading the Ideal-X was costing less than $0.16 a ton. The economic advantages of such a mode of transportation thus became clear to the shipping industry. In 1959, the vessel was acquired by Bulgarian owners, who rechristened her as the Elemir. The Elemir suffered extensive damage during heavy weather on February 8, 1964, and was sold in turn to Japanese breakers. The Ideal X carried containers until 1965, when it was finally scrapped.
Plan Of SS Ideal-X
Ideal-X, although served a short span in the containerized shipping industry, it appeared as the ‘X-Factor’ that revolutionized the entire shipping industry. Can you imagine that containerization shipping has increased the efficiency of moving traditional break-bulk cargoes significantly, reducing shipping time by 84% and costs by 35%.
Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Mahinder Singh Malhi
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