Used ISO Containers

Okay...let me try a different tack. When the cruise ship I was on was docked at Havensite, I didn't see any commercial freight being loaded or unloaded which leads me to speculate that another port somewhere on the island must be used for commercial shipping. Do any of you know if this is the case? If so, have you seen any 40' sea containers being loaded or unloaded? Have you noticed any stacks of containers sitting dockside or in a warehouse lot for extended periods?

Thanks,

Lee

They sell them. They are all over the place. About $1500- $2500 I hear.
Ronnie

Yes, they have a dock with the crates. A barge comes in at least once a week. Our truck was shipped here in a crate as well as a second crate for our household goods. They have a crane and stack them high on the barge. Like Ronnie said you can buy them. You can have them delivered to your home via truck like we did. That was a 20' crate, but I have actually seen them hauling around 40' crates, which on these roads is a big deal.

Teresa

Copy and paste this link in your browser: http://69.56.197.242/book.html That should take you to the VI phone books's yellow pages for shipping. On the next page is an ad for Tropical Shipping, and I think they are the largest. You can see some of their cotainers in the ad.

Thanks.

I found the Tropical site yesterday bit didn't see where they offered used containers for sale. I'll have to go back and double check. I found a source for containers in Miami that charges $1750 for a 40 footer. Apparently there is such a glut of containers in the states due to our trade imbalance that it is cheaper to sell used containers at a loss than ship back empties to their point of origin. I'm wondering if the situation is similar in STT.

Jay

Thanks,

Do you recall what the charge was to ship over your crates? Were you charged based on the maximum weight allowable or per pound of actual cargo?

The shipping price is only based on the size of container you get. You can fill it or not, same price. Why do you want to buy a container, may I ask? They brought the container to our home, we loaded it and they took it to STT where it was brought to our house by truck. Then they took it away.

Teresa

Teresa,

I'm investigating the use of ISO containers as a building material for (relatively) inexpensive housing. There are several interesting sites on the internet detailing what has been (and possibly could be) done in this area ranging from remotely located luxury vacation homes to spartan virtually self-sufficient 40' living quarters.

I'm investigating buying a half acre or so lot on STT with a nice view and maybe using one or two or three portable ISO containers as temporary living quarters. They're termite and earthquake proof as well as hurricane proof if adequately anchored and located above the tide surge and flood prone areas. You can add windows and doors with a cutting torch and the insides can be studded out and dry-walled with concealed plumbing and wiring.

I'd love to hear ideas from you guys already there about the concept. I've looked for info on zoning regulations but haven't found anything useful yet.

I heard about a community like that - I think it's in England- called "Container City" Ther is information on the web about it.