An intermodal container is a portable storage box compatible with travelling on various modes of transport. These include railways, ships, low-bed road transporters, and even cargo aircraft. They usually shift between different transportation modes via container depots. Hence, they also need to be compatible with lifting and moving gear in these facilities.
This flexibility requires a degree of standardization virtually unrivalled in any other industry. Standard 6-meter and 12-meter intermodal containers can be stacked many times high on ships and in container handling yards. This makes them arguably the densest storage facility anywhere.
People have been carting luggage securely in suitcases and boxes for ages. From the 1830s onwards railways were carrying simple containers that loaded onto horse-drawn carts using cranes. These were simple, rectangular timber boxes ideal for transporting bulk materials especially coal.
The military was already using container solutions for transporting weaponry by the time WW2 erupted. However, intermodal container standardization really only took off in 1951, when the U.S. and European nations met in Switzerland to consider the possibilities of standardized container transport.
This meeting led to the introduction of ‘roller containers’ in various configurations capable of loading on rail, truck or ship. Various innovations followed in quick succession. These new developments included corrugated steel containers with skids and lifting rings, stackable versions, and lighter-weight materials.
By the early 1970s shipping containers were travelling globally, although to the frustration of operators there were still various versions. Finally, the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization intervened with a global standard for the safe transport and handling of what became known as the universal intermodal container.
This regulation required that every shipping container have an approved ‘safety plate’ recording age, registration number, dimensions and weights, as well as its strength and maximum stacking capability. There was considerable resistance from traditional dock workers although eventually, sheer logic had its day.
The stresses and strains associated with an intermodal container stacked ten times high are immense. Rigid safety standards condemn these storage boxes long before they are actually worn out. We saw the opportunity to recycle them for other, creative purposes.
The Almar Container Group supplies standard and purpose-adapted intermodal containers for beneficial reuse in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. Tell us what you need and we’ll make it happen soon. We have applications for training rooms, ablution facilities, temporary offices, permanent homes and so much more.
Request a QuoteWe should ask about the goods and services we purchase. Especially since there is so much information on the internet, although it may not all be true. If you had the time and patience, you could probably figure out the container business yourself. However, a container agent with a finger on the pulse could simplify things for you.
The container industry is imperfectly regulated space. There are standards, but there is nothing preventing you making your own containers. Nothing that is, until you have an insurance claim returned with a rejection letter.
So what are the standards you have to meet - unless you employ a container agent to represent your interests?
The International Container Bureau is a registry for intermodal shipping containers. It founded in 1933 to set mandatory parameters for cranes, conveyors and other lifting gear. These factors include.
A container agent uses the information referenced in ISO 346 to verify information regarding a particular container, and current owner. In this regard it’s important to note the insurance angle. Shipping and all risks insurers may base their rates on the information on the ISO 346 register.
Our container agent can help you right-size and type a container whether for shipping, or storage. Or for one of the alternative conversions that are proving increasingly popular. The sky really is the limit for these incredibly versatile devices.
We can help you select and ship your containerised solution to South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Dubai, or Saudi Arabia. Please contact us as soon as you are ready to start your next project.
Steel shipping containers are all much of a muchness – sturdy boxes designed to transport and store every possible type of freight.
There are, of course, containers for different purposes, like those for dry freight or storage, and reefers that are manufactured specifically for the storage and transportation of refrigerated goods. There are also specialised containers that are intended for shipping unconventional or oversized cargo.
But container design takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to conversion products. Today, storage containers are not only used to transport and store goods, they are also used in the construction industry to form a basic shell for houses and apartments, and for on-site facilities, as well as to provide sleeping and office accommodation, conference or training rooms, and clinics and medical facilities in remote areas.
All containers must be designed and manufactured according to very specific international standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
General purpose (GP) dry-freight containers are most commonly used for conversion purposes, and they must be manufactured and tested according to ISO 1496-1 : 1990 (E), Series 1 freight containers – Specification and testing – Part 1: General cargo containers for general purposes. The scope of this standard covers GP containers that are totally enclosed and suitable for international conveyance by sea, road, or rail. They may be:
The standard specifies the internal and external dimensions of GP containers as well as the relevant tolerances. There are also specifications for corner fittings, the structure of the base of each unit, as well as end structure, side structure, walls, and door openings.
General container design requirements state that containers must be capable of fulfilling certain requirements, including:
Testing procedures are also detailed in ISO 1496-1 : 1990 (E) including a test for stacking a fully loaded container, lifting a container from the four top corner fittings, and another for lifting a container from the four bottom corner fittings. There are also procedures for a further 10 tests, to test longitudinal restraint, the strength of the end walls, side walls, and strength of the roof, as well as floor strength, transverse and longitudinal rigidity, “weatherproofness”, and for lifting from fork-lift pockets and from the base at grappler arm positions where these are fitted.
These strict design requirements ensure that containers are strong, secure, and long lasting, making them ideal, not only for transportation and storage purposes but for container conversions as well.
The use of steel dry freight GP shipping containers for architectural structures is as varied as the types of cargo they may be used for. They have been used for bespoke shops, offices, and designer homes. Ingenious designers have turned single units into reception areas, booths for parking attendants, coffee shops, hairdressing salons, and getaway retreats. More challenging designs incorporate multiple containers that are sometimes stacked or angled to create living or office space.
A Canadian company has caused a stir by repurposing used containers for hot tubs and swimming pools! These may be installed either below or above the ground.
Almar offers the full range of container solutions for storage and transportation, including reefers and specialized containers. We also supply plug and play container solutions for workshops, clinics, accommodation, offices, ablution blocks, and training rooms that we often supply to remote regions in Southern and East Africa as well as the Middle East.
All our containers meet ISO specifications, and those we convert are handled by our in-house engineering team and container design experts. How can we help you?
Almar Kenya has been commissioned to create four bespoke functional gym units from standard 20-foot dry containers for anti-poaching rangers to use. Three will be located in wildlife conservancies in Kenya, while the fourth is to be transported to Tanzania, and all four will provide an exciting opportunity for anti-poaching rangers to keep fit in the field.
The project was initiated by the Save the Rhino charity and 51 Degrees Ltd, a Kenyan company that trains rapid-response anti-poaching units across East Africa in helicopter procedures, reactive operations, area searches, and medical skills.
The design of the converted containers’ functional gym equipment will ensure that the rangers are able to improve their strength and overall fitness while in remote locations. The equipment in each unit consists of a series of bolted frames with pull-up bars, as well as removable dead-weight brackets and a larger frame for rope climbing at one end.
One of the converted containers has already been set up in the main rangers’ camp at Borana Conservancy in Laikipia County, Kenya. Two more are destined for Ol Jogi and Lewa Conservancies in the same region. A fourth will soon be heading for Tanzania where it will be utilized by the Singita Grumeti Fund’s team of rangers.
During the past four decades, Kenyan organisations and associations have been doing everything possible to save the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) from extinction. In 1970 there were 20,000 rhinos in the country, but as a result of poaching, this number fell to less than 280 in the 1980s. One of the first initiatives was the formation of the Association of Private Rhino Sanctuaries in Laikipia that was mandated by the Kenya Wildlife Service to represent the interests of those in the private sector who were working towards conservation of rhinos.
After the dramatic decrease in the numbers of rhinos by the 1980s, Kenya was hit by another surge in rhino and elephant poaching in 2012 and 2013, that led to the loss of more of these animals than at any time during the past 20 years. As a result, a new wildlife law was introduced allowing the courts to impose life imprisonment for convicted poachers. But, while poaching stats dropped, the killing continued, and earlier this year it was reported that convicted poachers in Kenya could face the death penalty.
The Kenyan authorities have also introduced a high-tech anti-poaching technique that involves sniffer dogs trained to identify air samples of rhino horn and ivory. These dogs are also used to find stolen livestock, property, and even children.
The Borana Conservancy is one of the newest conservancies for rhinos and since black rhinos were reintroduced to the area in 2013, it has been proven to be one of the most successful. It is relatively close to the Ol Jogi Conservancies as well as Ol Pejeta and the Solio Game Reserve, but Lewa is its closest neighbour.
Borana and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy work closely together with additional combined efforts from Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Police. While a primary focus is on fighting the threat of poaching and protecting the wildlife in the local conservancies, they also assist when there is road banditry, cattle rustling, and even inter-tribal conflict.
They report that there has been no poaching of rhino in the Lewa-Borana area in the past five years and that the numbers of illegally killed elephants have decreased significantly during the same period of time.
The Singita Grumeti Fund carries out community development and wildlife conservation in the western corridor of Tanzania’s legendary Serengeti ecosystem. An area that experienced rampant poaching and uncontrolled poaching less than two decades ago, the Fund is responsible for one of Eastern Africa’s greatest conservation success stories.
“Not only is Almar extremely grateful to have worked on this exciting and creative product, we are also proud to help such esteemed clients with their efforts in ensuring the preservation and security of Africa’s most precious wildlife.”
With a rising interest in converted shipping containers, there has been a drastic increase in container fraud and bogus operators, particularly in South Africa. Many people go online to see what the shipping container cost will be. They find a website that features what appear to be brand spanking new containers at exceptionally low prices and decide to buy.
Like phishing, which entails fraudsters purporting to be from reputable companies inducing people to reveal banking and other details, container fraud relies on people’s trust and is virtually impossible to track down.
In addition, this is largely a cash industry, so people are expected to pay the shipping container cost before it is delivered. Because containers are generally sold in large volumes from working depots, inspections are difficult. Also, entry barriers for newcomers to the industry are very low; all that is needed is a website and a phone number of some sort and you can start buying and selling containers.
So how does container fraud happen?
Shopping online today is easy – sometimes too easy. Whether you are looking for a frying pan, a new outfit, or converted shipping containers, you are likely to find a website that offers exactly what you want. While there are many reputable online stores, it is so easy to create a website and sell items online, it is often difficult to identify those that have been set up to swindle us.
This is how easy a fraudulent operation can be to set up and manage.
This makes it very difficult to track down fraudsters and virtually impossible to hold them accountable. But there are some warning flags to look out for when you buy shipping container units.
Almar Container Group has been a reliable supplier of used steel shipping containers for more than 30 years. If you have any questions regarding the validity of a quote for containers for sale or containers for rent, or even if you want a reference for an alternative container supplier, please contact us as we will be able to provide an honest and objective opinion and provide correction information.
Known as intermodal containers, the standard steel boxes used for mobile storage across land and sea are made according to strict specifications established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that develops and publishes international standards for just about everything. These shipping container design standards cover everything from size to the quality of steel used for construction, as well as the allowed gross weight of the ISO container.
There are a number of different standards that specify standards for shipping container design. While the vast majority of containers are categorized for general purpose use, there are separate standards for reefers – an insulated shipping container that is also refrigerated – and other even more specialised units.
All ISO standards are available for purchase and they cannot be accessed unless paid for, although there are some “informative sections” of the ISO standards that are available publicly. These include the accepted definition of an ISO container and of a freight container.
In addition, there are freely available definitions for both container structures and components.
These are some of the more important standards that relate to any ISO container used for shipping:
In addition, there are several standards that cover the specification and testing of:
There is also a standard, ISO 3874: 1997, that covers handling and securing of containers that are generally used for mobile storage.
Almar sells and rents out both new and used shipping containers in South Africa, Africa, and parts of the Middles East. All our containers are made to ISO standards. Contact us for details.
A beautifully created shared office space right in the heart of Nairobi, Kenya, Ikigai has attracted people from a cross-section of industries who value interaction and the possibility of collaboration with others but want to work in a highly professional environment. Based on a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being," Ikigai is such a popular office venue, it has been expanded with converted mobile containers to meet the demand.
Founded by two passionate entrepreneurs, Wachuka and Nyambura, who believe in the collective greatness of the community, Ikigai is located on a beautiful property that boasts a huge, rambling, old house and lush green gardens. They lease the property and are bound to keep the house in its original form. They may not build any permanent structures on the site, which is why they have opted to expand using mobile containers that may be relocated later if need be.
Rather than renting out rooms, they offer different types of membership that cater to the varied needs of individuals looking for reliable but flexible workspace. For instance:
All forms of membership offer high-speed Wi-Fi and there are communal areas in addition to the meeting spaces and boardrooms. Roasted Truth, an artisan barista-operated coffee bar established in one of the many converted shipping containers, and its adjacent coffee deck, is another perk for members.
When the owners of Ikigai decided to expand their office space, there were several major challenges they had to consider, including the fact that permanent structures were not acceptable. Aesthetics are important to the Ikigai team, and it was essential that if mobile containers were going to be used, these had to blend with the existing environment.
Almar Container Group, which has operated in Kenya since 2010 and is now the country’s largest supplier of steel containers to the end-user market, was approached to undertake the project. One of the benefits would be the speed of delivery and Almar’s ability to move the mobile containers to another site later if required.
First, they had to identify suitable areas for converted shipping containers. Then they had to design both a workable layout and container design based on this configuration. Ikigai needed big glass windows and doors incorporated in the design to facilitate both light and airflow. Almar’s designers achieved this by using double-glass sliding doors and lovely big tilting windows. The containers were also well insulated.
PVC tiled flooring was chosen, and down-lighters were installed to meet the client’s brief for smart, modern, and functional office spaces. The exterior walls of the containers were covered with timber cladding that would blend with the garden environment and surrounding spaces. Ultimately, the project shows how effectively converted shipping containers can be used in an upmarket residential area.
Whether you want accommodation for offices or boardrooms in upmarket converted shipping containers, mobile containers for traditional industrial office use, or steel containers that can be converted into living accommodation, Almar can help fulfil your needs in Southern Africa or the Middle East. Call us to discuss your needs or request a shipping container cost.
The sub-Saharan Africa rail revitalisation project that is rehabilitating and upgrading vital railway networks in Southern African Development Community (SADC) is surging ahead using storage containers for rent, particularly in the north-south corridor that runs from Durban through Zimbabwe and Zambia to the United Republic of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The project incorporates two other corridors, east-west that links Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho to South Africa, and the Maputo corridor that links Swaziland and Mozambique to South Africa.
Not only will rail revitalisation improve the quality of rail networks through the region, enabling mining and other industries to transport more steel containers by rail more quickly, safely, efficiently, and economically, but it also represents a paradigm shift in the way SADC railways have been operating. Instead of countries in sub-Saharan Africa working in isolation, the project will drive economic growth through the region and develop what will become a single, unified railway system.
The rail revitalisation project is driven by national governments and as such, represents a substantial investment in the region. It is a mammoth project primarily because the rail network has been poorly maintained throughout the region for a very long period of time.
Being part of the rejuvenation of this incredibly important logistics backbone to Africa has been a long-standing dream for the team at Almar Container Group, a leader in the global steel containers industry.
As a South African Department of Transport green paper published in 2015 stated, the rail transport sector has had “mixed fortunes” since it was inaugurated way back in 1860. Even though a rail network offers much more efficient transport solutions than road transportation, it has been substantially under-utilised over the past few decades. As a result, one of the major challenges is the “aging, deteriorating or obsolete” state of the existing network. The first project envisaged in the green paper was to promote efficient movement of goods through “industrial corridors” that connect coalfields to power stations as well as the expansion of coal and iron-ore rail lines, and expansion of ports – which is happening now.
In recent months, the South African government as well as other SADC governments have become increasingly aware of the incredible potential railways have to inject into the economy of the region. For instance, Zambia has implemented a target of 30 percent of all mining-related exports travelling via rail. State-owned entities in various countries that previously maintained tight control over rolling stock have begun to ease up and allow private operators the space to drive the efficient use of the rail infrastructure. And finally, shippers of cargo are starting to buy into the opportunity with the initial trial shipment showing incredible efficiencies.
Almar has receiving and collection facilities for steel containers in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, which has enabled the company to play a key role in the final roll-out of the rail solution, allowing shippers even more efficiency with one-way rentals. What this means is that there is never any need for shippers to pay for empty returns of mobile containers.
The storage containers for rent service offered by Almar is operational in the north-south corridor, in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Tanzania, where various drop-off points are located. The company has more than 150 of its 20ft containers available along this route. Please contact us for container rental prices.
Dabaab
Container Conversion
The Centre for Victims of Torture (www.cvt.org)
CVT needed to mobilise urgently to assist with the refugee crisis in Dabaab, which is a remote region of Kenya bordering Somalia. As CVT had no personel on the ground in Dabaab ahead of the project, they had no way of building or assembling a structure before they needed to move in.
Almar East Africa were able to design, manufacture, deliver and install world class accommodation modules for the CVT team within a matter of weeks, including laminate flooring and air conditioning. The team was able to move into the en-suite comfortable accommodation and begin their much-needed work without the worry of having to arrange accommodation and site preparation. We took care of it all for them.
