“Strong, stackable and mobile, the potential uses for out-of-service shipping containers are nearly unlimited – and, also, not well known. Maersk Line Container Sales, a new start-up company within Maersk Line, is betting on customers’ imagination, and big growth.”
Brad Berman bought his first used shipping container in June 2014. It was dented and scratched, the paint was falling off and there were bits of rust scattered over the surface but its looks meant nothing to him. The Cape Town native and real estate developer was looking at the start of his new business.
Today, Berman is the co-founder of Berman-Kalil Housing Concepts, a Cape Town-based company utilising old shipping containers to build a variety of structures but primarily inexpensive high-quality sustainable housing. In South Africa, a nation with high unemployment and an abundance of informal settlement-type housing, Berman hopes to make a difference, and a profit.
“The potential number of uses for containers is so big in a place like South Africa. There are so many settlements in my country that could be replaced by these container homes. But the combination of quality, durability and price make containers ideal for housing but also clinics, schools, stores, almost any structure,” he says.
