Seaco and the tank container business

PRIME MOVER

TANK CONTAINERS • SEACO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TANK LESSORS AND IS STILL ONE OF THE LARGEST. THINGS HAVE CHANGED A LOT SINCE JIM SHERWOOD FIRST STARTED THE FIRM

SEACO – FOUNDED AS Sea Containers - was one of the very first companies to lease shipping containers, established in 1965 by the late entrepreneur James B Sherwood. Tank containers were an early part of Sea Containers’ diversified portfolio as a pioneering lessor and manufacturer of such equipment.

Constantly investing in a diversified and growing fleet of containers including dry vans, reefers and a wide variety of specials, Seaco has been able to generate significant

SEACO HAS RECENTLY ADDED 20-FOOT REFRIGERATED

TANKS FOR THE TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF

TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE LIQUIDS purchasing power, able to bring economies of scale to its customer offering while still maintaining the personalised approach to business that is so important for its tank container customers.

Today Seaco owns one of the largest fleets of standard and special tank containers in the world. This has meant that tank operators have been able to grow their vital contribution to cargo owners’ activities through access to high-value equipment without the need to invest large amounts of their own capital. Seaco has also been a seeding ground for talent: many senior executives involved in the industry today gained their initial experience in Sea Containers House in London. CONTINUE THE COMMITMENT Seaco is a strong believer in the further growth of the contribution the tank container makes to global trade. As more and more companies commit to Environmental and Social Governance – Seaco very much among them – the case for carrying foodstuffs and chemical products in tank containers will get more and more persuasive. Seaco is confident that we will see further ‘modal shift’; that is, more and more products will move into tank containers as an efficient, safe and above all long-lasting method of transportation.

Tank containers, when built to the right specification, will last twenty years or more – and then move to after-markets for storage or further transportation, often after refurbishment. They are therefore a great example of what is increasingly referred to as the ‘circular economy’ where resources are used time after time before being recycled.

Seaco also recognises that the industry must adapt in other ways as the world moves forward. It is watching developments on telematics with interest, offering tracking equipment as required by customers who need to track remotely the location and condition of valuable cargo.

Seaco has invested in an increasingly diverse range of tank containers in addition to the traditional T11 tanks, adding compartmented, refrigerated, electrically heated, baffled and lined tanks to the fleet. Its fleet of gas tanks has grown from zero to well over 1,000 units in under four years. It has pioneered an innovative design for the carriage of cement and other powders, which is proving particularly popular as the construction of wind farms increases. Among many other special tank types, Seaco has just made its first investment in highly sought, and highly valuable, T75 tanks for the transport of cryogenic gases.

Most importantly, Seaco has developed its people, creating centres of excellence and knowledge for tank containers in the Americas, EMEA, Asia and Oceania, ensuring that global reach doesn’t compromise the ability to offer customers access both to local expertise and the product itself wherever they are needed. www.seacoglobal.com