A container ship (sometimes spelled container) is a cargo ship, in a technique called intermodal containers that carries all of its cargo-sized truck-sized containers. Container ships are a common way of commercial intermodal freight transportation, and they currently carry most of the non-bulk cargoes navigating the sea.

Container ship capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Typical loads are a mix of 20 feet and 40 feet (2 TEU) ISO standard containers, with the latter dominating.

Today, around 90% of non-bulk cargoes worldwide are transported by container ships, and the largest modern container ships can transport more than 23,000 TEU (eg MSC Gülsün). Container ships are now rivaling crude oil tankers and bulk carriers as the largest merchant marine vessels.

There are two main types of dry cargo: bulk cargo and bulk cargo. Bulk cargo, such as grain or coal, is often transported unpackaged in the ship's hull in large volumes. [3] Bulk bulk cargoes are transported in packages and are generally finished goods. [4] Before the advent of container shipping in the 1950s, bulk cargoes were individually loaded, lasheed, unloaded and unloaded from the ship. However, up to 3000 cubic feet (28 m of cargo in 85 containers, 1000 grouping 3 cargoes) or up to 64,000 about pounds (29,000 kg), it moves once and is secured by each container ship once a standard way. [5] Containerization significantly increased the efficiency of transporting traditional bulk cargo, reducing shipping time by 84% and costs by 35%. [6] In 2001, more than 90% of world trade in non-bulk goods was transported in ISO containers. [7] In 2009, almost a quarter of the world's dry cargo was shipped by container, with an estimated 125 million TEU or 1.19 billion tons of cargo.