Container glossary
What does cargo-worthy mean?
A cargo-worthy (CW) container is a used box judged structurally sound enough to carry cargo in international transport and carrying a valid CSC safety approval. Cargo-worthy is a trade grade; what makes a container legal to load on a ship is the in-date CSC plate on its door.
What this grade costs
| Container | Cargo-worthy |
|---|---|
| 10 ft container | $2,500–3,700 |
| 20 ft container | $1,700–2,800 |
| 40 ft container | $2,100–3,400 |
| 40 ft high cube container | $2,100–3,500 |
| 45 ft high cube container | $3,500–5,300 |
Who decides that a container is cargo-worthy
Nobody official. The grade is applied by the depot or dealer selling the box, sometimes backed by a surveyor’s report, and it sits in the middle of the ladder the trade uses: one-trip and IICL above it, wind-and-watertight and as-is below. What it asserts is that the frame, corner castings, floor and doors are sound enough to be lifted, stacked and sealed with a load inside.
The legal test is separate. Under the International Convention for Safe Containers of 1972, every container in international transport carries a safety approval plate and stays approved only while it is examined on schedule — by periodic examination, with the next date marked on the plate, or under an approved continuous examination programme, marked ACEP. A box graded cargo-worthy is expected to meet that; the plate is where you verify that it does. The grades guide compares all five grades.
Reading the plate behind a CW listing
You meet “CW” in sales listings, depot quotes and survey reports. When you see it, go to the left door and read the CSC plate: it should be present, legible and either show a next examination date that has not passed or carry an ACEP reference. If the box is to sail as your own equipment — a shipper-owned container — the shipping line will ask for exactly this before it accepts the booking, and may ask for a recent survey as well.
Then inspect the steel as for any purchase: castings for cracks, floor for soft spots, gaskets by the daylight test. The six points are in the buying checklist, and the table above gives the going price of the grade by size.
Buying “cargo-worthy” and finding the approval has lapsed
The expensive mistake is to take the two words on the invoice for the certificate. A container can be sold as CW on the strength of an inspection done long ago, with an examination date that has since run out. The line refuses it at booking, and the buyer pays for a surveyor, for any repairs the surveyor requires and for a new date before the box can move. If you mean to ship, write “valid CSC, examination in date” into the purchase terms.
The opposite mistake is paying for cargo-worthy when the box will never leave your yard. Static storage needs no safety approval, and a wind-and-watertight unit does the same job for less.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cargo-worthy container certified for shipping?
Not by the grade alone: cargo-worthy is a seller’s or surveyor’s assessment, and the certification is the CSC safety approval shown on the plate. A CW box with an in-date plate can be booked for ocean freight; one whose date has expired must be re-examined first.
What is the difference between cargo-worthy and wind-and-watertight?
Cargo-worthy means fit to carry a load by sea, with a valid CSC approval; wind-and-watertight means only that weather stays out. A WWT box is sold for storage, and its approval for shipping has lapsed.
Does a cargo-worthy container leak?
It should not: a container fit to carry cargo must also keep it dry, so cargo-worthy includes being weathertight. Confirm it with the daylight test — stand inside with the doors shut and look for any point of light.