Do container ships have containers below deck?
Also asked, how do containers stay on container ships?
Most ships have cells (vertical slots made by long metal rails) in the cargo holds that do most of the work of keeping containers from sliding from side-to-side. Additionally, the bottom tier will be twist-locked to the deck, and stacking cones do the rest of the work.
In this regard, do container ships ever lose containers?
The Through Transport Club, which insures and risk manages top freight firms, reckons fewer than 2,000 containers are lost a year. It estimated that without including such events, some 350 containers are lost each year, and with the larger events, 675.
The containers themselves are in the stack secured directly to the deck by bottom stackers or bottom twistlocks. Within the stacks, are located intermediate stackers or twistlocks, bridge fittings or linkage plate. Bottom stackers are “no locking” devices, which hold the container in position.