Now the container is loaded as per the cargo plan by the gigantic port cranes, which lifts it from the truck and transfers it to the ship. The container can be stored on the ship's cargo hold, where container guides are provided to draw and place the container inside the hold.

How are containers loaded and unloaded?

As ships approach the port, they are met by tugs that rotate them to point downstream and nudge them sideways to berth at the quay. Then the unloading process begins. ... Containers are lifted off the ship two at a time by quay cranes, 450-foot-high behemoths with booms long enough to reach across the width of the ship .

How are containers stacked on a ship?

On ships they stack like-sized containers one right on top of another, lining up corner-post to corner-post. If you look carefully, you'll see that the corner-posts sit just a little lower than the bottom of the container and just a little higher than the top of the container.