COLLAPSECON

It’s true, the concept of collapsible containers is not new. The idea has been around since at least the late 1980s, and there have been a number of collapsing containers introduced to the global shipping industry; but each of them has inherent limitations in that they require extensive manual intervention which introduces significant health and safety risks into traditionally highly mechanised handling procedures. COLLAPSECON is completely original in design. While most collapsible designs fold vertically, Spectainer recognised a number of problems associated with the “falling roof” design and developed a horizontally collapsing container to work in tandem with our very own COS for automated operation, thus removing manual operators from the risk zone and significantly improving the efficiency in collapsing and combining containers.

Many collapsible containers require 3-4 people and a crane to operate, often taking 15-20 minutes per unit to collapse, usually by lifting or pushing the container. This causes increased wear and tear, slows operations and increases safety risks. By comparison, COLLAPSECON has true stand-back functionality. It is fully automated and can be collapsed using the COS in two minutes.

Collapsing vertically has its benefits, but strength is not one of them. Given the requirement to position containers anywhere on a vessel, the industry must be confident that a collapsible container can sustain the weight of fully laden boxes both at sea and in the port. Vertically collapsing designs have always had limitations as to their stacking capacity. As COLLAPSECON collapses horizontally and utilises strong integrated end-frames, it can sustain 378T and be positioned anywhere on a vessel (even at the bottom of the stack) in either the single or combined state.

While many designs have achieved the core function of collapsing, an ongoing limitation has been that they are still treated as individual units. This means they save in storage and transport but are still required to be handled individually. To ensure the system is simple, efficient, affordable and safe, COLLAPSECON is designed to be collapsed/expanded using the COS. Most importantly, every container is only touched once in the process, thereby reducing the overall handling requirement. Additionally, each unit combines using the end frames which means there are no external parts. When combined, four units can be treated as a single unit.

COLLAPSECON must perform like any other standard intermodal container. It is made in the same factories, from the same materials, utilising the same processes. It is designed and certified to the same CSC and ISO standards as a normal container and production requires the same level of rigorous testing. Whether in the single or combined state, rest assured the container acts like a standard container.

Naturally, there is a fear of change, and that’s understandable, but growth in global trade demand is set to continue, with Drewry forecasting growth of 6% YoY through until 2025. This growth requires substantial investment in new vessel capacity and new and replacement equipment, all while the industry faces the extreme challenges of decarbonisation and a congested supply chain. Evolution needs to occur. Moving to adopt new technologies can be risky, so with Spectainer, you don’t have to make a capital investment. We work on leasing arrangements, with any leasing costs far outweighed by the compelling savings achieved in all stages of the shipping process.