Counting Shipping Containers

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to gain familiarity with the numbers of shipping containers arriving in Honolulu. It is practice in field observation tied to the flows of commodities through the harbor.

TASKS/INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Use the State DOT Harbor Divisions website (here) to look-up the arrival time of a container ship coming into Honolulu Harbor, and the place where it will be berthed. Look under "Daily Shipping Schedule" in the right hand panel. This data is updated frequently and usually has the next four days or so of arrivals.
  2. Pick an observation point from which to observe and count the containers. Snapping a photograph might allow some longer study. Binoculars might be handy for closer reading of container markings. Aloha Tower? It's parking lot?
  3. Count and/or calculate the number of containers on the ship.
  4. Note the identifying markings on at least 20 containers and check their owner's and origin's against this website: here
  5. Report what you found.

THE REPORT:

Hold yourself to a 2 page maximum (plus table and map). Don't waste a coversheet. On the first page, put your name, the class and assignment, and the date in the upper left. Skip a couple of lines and start your report, which in several paragraphs should: Tell what ship and date of arrival. Give your estimate of the number of containers and describe your method. Include a table list of at least twenty container identification codes and a world map showing where they come from.

Pau.