The Box orBBC Box (BIC code:NYKU8210506) was a single ISOintermodal container which was tracked byBBC News between September 2008 and April 2009, as part of a project to studyinternational trade andglobalisation.[1] The Box was fitted with tracking equipment, and painted in a special one-off BBClivery.[2]
The Box was named after the bookThe Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which covers the effects ofcontainerisation.[1] The project was assisted by theContainer Shipping Information Service.
The tracking project was launched on 8 September 2008.[1] The BBC project tracked a standard 40-foot-long (12.19 m) shipping container as it was transported by its owner,Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) shipping line usingintermodal freight transport with various cargoes. An on-boardGPS unit tracked the Box's location, and this was used to update a map showing the current location and its previous route. If the container's GPS or communications signal was obstructed (such as having been stacked too far inside the ship'shold), the ship's own GPS location was used to manually update a map.[3] The tracking unit suffered technical problems during December 2008.[4]
Following the end of the project in 2009, the shipping container was donated by its owner,Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) to a charity to be turned into asoup kitchen.[5]
.svg)
Destination.
TranshipmentThe Box arrived empty, already in its BBC branding. It travelled to its first destination to take on its first cargo; a consignment of whisky from aGlasgow-based bottling plant toShanghai, China. On arrival in Shanghai, the Box was met and reported on by British school pupils on a trip to China.[6]
Later arrived in Southampton on 22 October at around 3 am, unloaded with crane L, being driven by Lee Harfield, the same driver who had loaded it when it left Southampton.
GPS tracking stopped on 4 April 2009, shortly after passingMauritius.
Unfortunately, owing to some fiendish technical problems with the Box's GPS unit, this map will not update until mid December when repairs can be made.
The Box has left New York for Santos in Brazil with a cargo of household goods. The Box spent Christmas in the United States ... owing to continuing technical problems with the Box's GPS unit beyond our) control, we will only be able to make sporadic updates to this map.
| Services | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management | |||||||||
| Departments | |||||||||
| Nations and regions |
| ||||||||
| Commercial subsidiaries | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Key properties (full list) |
| ||||||||
| Finance | |||||||||
| Projects | |||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||
| Overview |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | ||
| Handling | ||
| Types | ||
| Other | ||
