Editing Intermodal container (section)

== Non-shipping uses ==

===Containerized equipment===
[[File:Hammelmann Diesel unit - built into container.jpg|thumb|[[Hammelmann diesel unit]]<ref>[https://www.hammelmann.com/en/products/pumps-and-units/diesel-units.php Hammelmann Diesel]</ref> built into container]]

Container-sized units are also often used for moving large pieces of equipment to temporary sites. Specialised containers are particularly attractive to militaries already using containerisation to move much of their freight around. Shipment of specialized equipment in this way simplifies logistics and may prevent identification of high value equipment by enemies. Such systems may include command and control facilities, mobile operating theatres<ref>{{cite web|url=http://defensetech.org/2004/09/09/operating-room-in-a-box-unfolds/ |title="operating Room in a Box" Unfolds |access-date=2015-05-18 |url-status = usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903184700/http://www.defensetech.org/2004/09/09/operating-room-in-a-box-unfolds/ |archive-date=3 September 2016 |date=2004-09-09 }}</ref> or even [[missile launcher]]s<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7632543/A-cruise-missile-in-a-shipping-box-on-sale-to-rogue-bidders.html |title=A cruise missile in a shipping box on sale to rogue bidders |access-date=2010-04-26 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323074421/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7632543/A-cruise-missile-in-a-shipping-box-on-sale-to-rogue-bidders.html |archive-date=23 March 2016 |date=2010-04-25 |last1=Harding |first1=Thomas }}</ref> (such as the Russian [[3M-54 Klub#Launch platforms|3M-54 Klub]] [[surface-to-surface missile]]).

Complete water treatment systems can be installed in containers and shipped around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurowater.com/products/water_treatment_in_container.aspx |title=Water treatment in container |access-date=2015-01-31 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019050055/http://www.eurowater.com/products/water_treatment_in_container.aspx |archive-date=19 October 2016 }}</ref>

Electric generators can be permanently installed in containers to be used for portable power.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cumminspower.com/www/literature/brochures/powerBox-20X-FINAL-Apr09-en.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-01-31 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216094225/http://cumminspower.com/www/literature/brochures/powerBox-20X-FINAL-Apr09-en.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2011 }} pg3</ref>

=== Creative use ===
Containers have also been used by contemporary artists, exhibitions, and galleries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Containers - Criticism |url=https://www.e-flux.com/criticism/240485/containers |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=e-flux |language=en}}</ref> Artists may conduct [[Artist-in-residence|residencies]] inside stationary or traveling containers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Laguarda |first=Ignacio |title=Art installation 'The Seed' planted in Stamford's Mill River Park by former Norwalk artists |url=https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-mill-river-park-seed-norwalk-19879726.php |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241117170856/https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-mill-river-park-seed-norwalk-19879726.php |archive-date=2024-11-17 |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=Stamford Advocate |language=en}}</ref> Containers may also be used to install temporary art exhibitions in one or many containers at a site such as the 2005–2012 [[Containerart]] project.

===Repurposing===
[[File:Cholula container city.jpg|thumb|Container City in [[Cholula, Puebla#Landmarks|Cholula]], Mexico uses fifty old sea containers for {{convert|4500|m2|-3|abbr=on}} of workshops, restaurants, galleries, etc., as well as some homes.]]

Half the containers that enter the United States leave empty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2879.htm|title=No. 2879: Empty Shipping Containers|website=uh.edu}}</ref> Their value in the US is lower than in China, so they are sometimes used for other purposes. This is typically but not always at the end of their voyaging lives. The US military often used its [[Conex container]]s as on-site storage, or easily transportable housing for command staff and medical clinics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swampfox.info/miltermsgloss/complete_glossary.html |title=Glossary of Military Terminology |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=21 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223214145/http://swampfox.info/miltermsgloss/complete_glossary.html |archive-date=23 February 2015}}</ref> Nearly all of the more than 150,000 Conex containers shipped to Vietnam remained in the country, primarily as storage or other mobile facilities.{{sfnp|Monograph 7: Containerization|1970|pp=9–11}} Permanent or semi-permanent placement of containers for storage is common.  A regular forty-foot container has about {{convert|4000|kg|lb|order=flip|sigfig=1}} of steel, which takes {{convert|8000|kWh|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} of energy to melt down. Repurposing used shipping containers is increasingly a practical solution to both social and ecological problems.

[[Shipping container architecture]] employs used shipping containers as the main framing of modular home designs, where the steel may be an integrated part of the design, or be camouflaged into a traditional looking home. They have also been used to make temporary shops, cafes, and [[Modular data center|computer datacenters]], e.g. the [[Sun Modular Datacenter]].

Intermodal containers are not [[Structural integrity and failure|strong enough]] for conversion to underground bunkers without additional bracing, as the walls cannot sustain much lateral pressure and will collapse.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Also, the wooden floor of many used containers could contain some fumigation residues, rendering them unsuitable as confined spaces, such as for prison cells or bunkers. Cleaning or replacing the wood floor can make these used containers habitable, with proper attention to such essential issues as ventilation and insulation.

===Single-time use===
The City of [[Göttingen]] has deployed containers for the disablement of [[unexploded ordnance]]: either [[Flexible intermediate bulk container|FIBCs]] filled with sand or [[Intermediate bulk container|IBCs]] filled with water.
When the bomb squad performs controlled detonations, such prepared containers absorb shock and fragments.<ref>{{cite news
| title       = Göttingen: 4 World War II bombs prompt evacuation
| date        = 2021-01-31
| url         = https://www.DW.com/en/germany-4-world-war-ii-bombs-prompt-evacuation-in-g%C3%B6ttingen/a-56393748
| work        = Deutsche Welle
| quote       = Bomb disposal experts set up protective barricades around the site, including stacked shipping containers filled with special water balloons to absorb the explosion.
| access-date = 2023-09-23
}}</ref>
This use requires level, load-bearing ground. The deformed containers are unsuitable for further circulation.