TEU
A TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) is the standard unit of measure for container capacity, based on the dimensions of a 20-foot ISO shipping container. It describes the capacity of container ships, terminals and trade lanes — a vessel rated at 10,000 TEU can carry the equivalent of 10,000 twenty-foot containers.
A standard 40-foot container counts as 2 TEU (see FEU). Because the global fleet mixes 20-foot and 40-foot boxes, TEU provides a single comparable figure. Every major port and carrier reports throughput in TEU, making it the universal currency of container shipping.
TEU is the universal currency of container shipping. Because the world fleet mixes 20-foot and 40-foot boxes, counting raw containers tells you little; TEU normalises everything into one comparable figure, so vessel capacity, terminal throughput and trade-lane volumes can all be measured and compared on the same scale.
A container ship loads 300 twenty-foot and 400 forty-foot containers. Its utilised capacity = (300 × 1) + (400 × 2) = 300 + 800 = 1,100 TEU. This is why a port handling 900,000 mixed boxes might report roughly 1.4 million TEU of throughput.
How many TEU is a 40ft container?
Two. A standard 40ft container — and a 40ft high-cube — each count as 2 TEU.
Why is capacity measured in TEU instead of container count?
Because the fleet mixes 20ft and 40ft boxes. TEU gives one comparable number for vessel capacity, terminal throughput and slot allocation, regardless of the box mix.