5 ms·

You have underestimated the weight of a loaded cargo container by more than 50%.

• jacquesm 5y ago
  That's a maximum weight, typical containers are maxed out volume wise long before they are maxed out weight wise unless they carry large amounts of steel, and this particular container would have to have been floating submerged which puts a pretty low upper limit on how much it could have weighed.
  • loonster 5y ago
    If a shipping container is partially submerged, I think you should include the mass of the water that is included in the shipping container. Assuming a neutral buoyancy, this would put the upper limit of mass at around 42 tons.
    • QuarterReptile 5y ago
      this is the correct methodology (though I dont know shipping container sizes beyond estimating ship heights as 10ft times the number of containers.
    • CalChris 5y ago
      First the container is sealed and it will float. At that point, it will be a hazard to surface navigation, and the Coast Guard, the Navy, ..., will try to recover them or sink them. Or the shipper will. Once the seals break down, the container will become heavier than water, have negative buoyancy (Archimedes Principle), and sink. As it sinks the pressure will increase and any remaining air will be squeezed out and it will sink faster. Also, there really aren't that many containers lost overboard (1,382/yr on average) and few are not recovered. There are a lot more sea mounts, about 14,500.