ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Container ship

Imagine you have a BIG truck that can carry LOTS of things from one place to another. A container ship is like a REALLY BIG truck, but it moves things across the ocean instead of on roads.

A container ship is a big boat that can carry THOUSANDS of big boxes called containers. These containers are like big metal boxes that can hold all kinds of things like clothes, toys, food, electronics, and even cars! The containers are stacked on top of each other on the ship, almost like building blocks to make the most efficient use of space.

The container ship takes these containers from one country to another. Sometimes, it might take a week or more for the ship to travel from one place to another because the ocean is really big! But because the ship is so big, it can carry a lot of things at one time, which makes it a really good way to move things from one part of the world to another.

When the container ship reaches its destination, cranes lift the containers off the ship and they are transported by trucks or trains to their final destination. And that's how containers make their way around the world on a container ship!