Cargo: The weight of freight

Crisscrossing the oceans 365 days a year, they carry 90% of everything we buy. Taller than a 15-storey building, longer than 3 soccer fields, container ships are the invisible giants of globalization - its essential but forgotten cogs. How do they operate? Who runs them? And how come we so largely ignore everything about them? 

With the agreement of the world's 2^nd largest shipowner Maersk, we board on one of these steel giants and follow its day-by-day trajectory along a shipping lane known as the backbone of world trade: the “FAL” (French Asia Line). We fully immerse ourselves alongside the crew, becoming aware of what it is to be a seafarer in the midst of a relantless race for profitability. 

From the Straits of Shanghai to the gates of Rotterdam,this journey on the high seas will serve as the main thread of an investigation to question the strenghts and weaknesses of global commerce, and explore the means to improve the human, technological and environmental impact of maritime transport.