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In ship: Structural integrity
However, longitudinal frames require internal transverse support from bulkheads and web frames—the latter being, in effect, partial bulkheads that may extend only three to seven feet in from the shell. This requirement obviously reduces the weight advantage of longitudinal framing but not enough to negate the…
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TEU

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TEU

cargo unit

Also known as: 20-foot equivalent unit

Written by Erik Gregersen

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2025 • Article History

In full:: 20-foot equivalent unit

Related Topics:: container ship; freight; unit; watercraft; volume

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TEU, standard unit for cargo capacity for container ships and ports. The TEU refers to a shipping container that measures 20 feet long (6.1 meters), 8 feet 6 inches (2.6 meters) high, and 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide.

High-cube shipping containers have a height of 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 meters) and half-height containers have a height of 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 meters). However, both containers are counted as 1 TEU. A related unit is the 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU), which refers to a shipping container with dimensions of 40 feet long (12.2 meters), 8 feet 6 inches high, and 8 feet wide. Two TEU equals 1 FEU. The 40-foot containers are the most commonly used.

An average container ship carries about 4,600 TEU; as of 2025 the largest container ships, the MSC Irina and its five sister ships, each have a capacity of 24,346 TEU. The total capacity of the global container ship fleet is about 31 million TEU.

Erik Gregersen