Half height container

20 ft half height container dimensions and weight

The width and the length are those of every 20 ft box, so a half height is lifted, stacked and trucked like one; only the height changes. Two ISO half heights stacked make 8 ft 6 in, the height of one standard box. For the height of a full-size box, 2,591 mm for a standard 40 ft and 2,896 mm for a high cube, see the 40 feet container size.

10 ft and 40 ft half height containers

The 10 ft and 40 ft half heights we found are offshore boxes. The same leasing company gives a 10 ft of 2,991 × 2,438 × 1,280.5 mm, 2,795 × 2,200 × 1,007.5 mm inside (about 6.2 m³, by our count), 1,380 kg empty and rated to 9,320 kg, and a 40 ft of 12,192 × 2,438 × 1,280.5 mm, 4,970 kg empty and rated to 25,000 kg. We found no data sheet for a 40 ft ISO half height.

What is a half height container used for?

Dense cargo, which fills a box’s weight before its volume. A standard 20 ft box carries about 28,260 kg in 33.2 m³: a cargo denser than about 0.85 tonne per cubic metre reaches that weight before the box is full, and one denser than 1.7 tonnes per cubic metre leaves it half empty. The American maker’s steel-lid half height carries 21,755 kg in 15.2 m³: it is full by weight and by volume at about 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre. Its low sides let it be filled from above and emptied by tipping, without anyone working inside a tall box. The makers and users we read name iron ore, copper and zinc concentrates, mineral sands, salt and scrap metal.

Loading and emptying a half height

• Loading: from the top, by crane, with the lid lifted off or the tarpaulin rolled back; the tarpaulin version also has a rear gate.
• Emptying: by tipping the box, at the end or the side, or by turning it over in a rotator. In Australia’s mines, a variant 1,450 mm high, with a watertight steel lid, carries mineral sands, salt, iron ore and concentrates, and one rotator lifts its lid automatically before turning it over.

For machines and steel that are heavy but not loose, a full-height open top or a flat rack is usually easier to load and to secure.

Half height container ISO code

For a box 8 ft wide, the second character of the size-type code gives the height: 8 means 1,295 mm (4 ft 3 in), and 9 means 1,219 mm or less. The type is that of an open top: U1 for an open top with removable top members, and, since the 2022 edition of ISO 6346, U6 for an open top with a removable hard top. So a 20 ft half height is usually marked 28U1, a new one with a steel lid may read 28U6, and the 1,219 mm tarpaulin box would read 29U1. In ISO 668, the standard that sets container sizes, it is a 1CX box: 20 ft long, under 8 ft high.

Offshore (DNV) half height containers

Offshore half heights carry pipes, tools, chains and other equipment between supply ships and oil, gas and wind platforms. They are built and certified as offshore containers, under the classification society standard DNV-ST-E271 (formerly DNV 2.7-1) or EN ISO 10855, which replaced EN 12079:

• Lifting: by their pad eyes and a certified sling set, never by the corner fittings, since they are lifted in the open sea; a classification society’s guide caps offshore containers at 25,000 kg gross.
• Inspection: a visual inspection at least every 12 months, and every 48 months a non-destructive test with a visual inspection, or a lifting test; the sling set follows the same calendar, and an inspection plate on the box shows the date of the last one. A box whose inspection has lapsed is taken out of service offshore until it is inspected again.
• Markings: the maximum gross weight, the tare and the payload, in letters at least 50 mm high.

Offshore ratings vary by model: another supplier offers 20 ft half heights rated from about 12,400 to 19,400 kg gross. In India, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research in Goa (now the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research), a body of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, called in 2015 for eight 6 m half height containers approved to DNV 2.7-1 and EN 12079: 1,453 mm high, taller than the leasing company’s 1,280 mm, with 9,700 kg of payload, a door at one end and a four-leg sling certified by DNV. We found no published requirement of ONGC, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the Directorate General of Shipping or the Oil Industry Safety Directorate on offshore containers: ask the operator you supply which standard it accepts.

Half height container price and sale in India

We found no public source on ISO half heights in use in India: not from the railways, CONCOR or the ports. Indian Railways has tried 25 tonne hopper containers for coal and ore, loaded from the top, which are a different design. No half height was among the listings of our price survey, and we found no public price in India.

To look for one, send a quote request: the button below fills in a half height container and asks for the size and whether you need an ISO box for bulk cargo or a certified offshore one. The partner sellers who cover your PIN code reply if they can supply one, with a delivered price.

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How much is a half-size shipping container?

If you mean half the length of a 20 ft box, that is a 10 ft box: a used 10 ft container was priced from ₹1,67,000 in our survey of 20 October 2026. If you mean half a 40 ft, that is a 20 ft box: a used one from ₹1,04,000, on the 20 ft container price page. For a half height, we found no price.