The History of Containerization (HOC) Foundation, in conjunction with the Containerization & Intermodal Institute (CII), will host an official gala honoring the 50th anniversary of containerization on April 27, 2006, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The event will take place exactly 50 years after Malcom P. McLean’s historic inaugural ocean voyage of IDEAL X, the first vessel carrying containerized cargo, between the ports of New York/New Jersey and Houston, Texas.
The HOC Foundation was established this year by CII and other industry leaders as a non-profit charitable organization to capture and preserve the history of the development and evolution of the sea-going shipping container and the industry it created, including the many individuals around the world who played a key role in containerization. The HOC history initiative will include the gala event and a permanent museum exhibition, along with CII’s publication of a book on the first 50 years of containerization.
“We want to ensure that the role of containerization in revolutionizing global trade is recognized rightly as one of the most significant commercial events in world history,” said Michael B. Berzon, Chairman of the HOC Foundation and North America marketing manager for the Port of Hamburg. “The roots of the container revolution grew from one simple idea acted on 50 years ago by a humble truck driver from North Carolina – Malcom McLean. Today's world economy and our modern retail society would not exist without the container industry's incredible advancement over the past half-century.”
