Container Grades Explained

Container grades determine the condition, price and suitability of a shipping container for different applications. Whether you are leasing or buying, understanding grades helps you make the right decision. MG-Atlantic offers all grades globally.

New / One-Trip

Manufactured in China, used once to ship goods, arrives in near-perfect condition. Typical use: food, pharmaceuticals, high-value cargo, long-term leasing.

40HC New containers available

IICL (Institute of International Container Lessors)

Premium grade, inspected and repaired to IICL 5 standard, structurally sound. Typical use: long-term leasing, intermodal transport, demanding cargo.

Long-term leasing programs

Cargo Worthy (CW)

Structurally sound, wind and water tight, suitable for international sea transport. Most exporters and traders choose CW for the best value.

One-way SOC leasing

Wind & Water Tight (WWT)

No structural guarantee beyond keeping out weather, not certified for sea voyage. Used for on-site storage, construction sites, domestic transport.

Browse available stock

As-Is

Sold in current condition, no repairs, buyer accepts visible damage. Used for scrap, modification projects, budget buyers.

Request a custom quote

Container Grade Comparison

Why the Gap Between CW and WWT Moves

Both grades keep water out. What separates them is certification and repair margin, and both of those have a cost that changes.

Survey and certification capacity. A WWT unit becomes cargo worthy when a surveyor says so and the plate is valid. Where surveyors are busy or a re-examination is due, that step takes time and money, and the gap widens.

Repair cost. Bringing a unit up to cargo-worthy standard means steel, welding and labour at local rates. Where repair is expensive, fewer units get upgraded and the gap widens. Where it is cheap, depots upgrade opportunistically and the gap closes.

Who is buying. In a region where most demand is static storage, nobody pays for certification and WWT prices firm up toward CW. In an export region where every buyer intends to ship, CW carries a premium and WWT trades at a discount to whatever it would cost to upgrade it.

Where the box is. A unit in a surplus port sits among many alternatives; the same unit in a deficit port has few. Location moves both grades, and it does not move them by the same amount.

A Grade Is a Survey at a Moment

A grade is not a property of the container. It is the outcome of an inspection, on a date, against a standard, by a surveyor.

That has three consequences worth holding onto. A unit graded cargo worthy six months ago and stored outdoors since is not necessarily cargo worthy today. A grade assigned by the seller's own yard and a grade assigned by an independent surveyor are not the same assurance. And two depots can grade the same box differently in good faith, because the standards overlap and judgement sits between them.

This is why the condition record at handover matters more than the label in the offer. The label is a claim about the past; the record is what you will be arguing from.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the five container grades used in the industry?

The market uses five canonical grades ranked by structural quality: Brand New / One-Trip (a newly manufactured container that has made a single loaded voyage from the Chinese factory to a Western port), IICL (a used container inspected and certified to the IICL-5 standard, the strictest in-service standard on the market), Cargo Worthy or CW (a used container inspected and certified fit for one more sea voyage with a valid CSC plate), WWT or Wind & Water Tight (watertight and windproof but not certified for navigation), and As-Is / ASIS (sold as it stands with visible wear accepted). Each grade maps to a distinct use case and price band. Same size (20DC, 40HC, 40DC) exists across all five grades, see the size guide for the size-vs-grade decision matrix.

How is a container grade actually assigned?

Grade attribution is a physical inspection process, not a paper category. Brand New / One-Trip is defined by manufacturing: a container is Brand New until it has made one loaded voyage (typically Asia to Europe or North America), after which it becomes One-Trip, the same physical unit under a different commercial label. IICL is assigned by a surveyor applying the IICL-5 standard, roughly 200 inspection points covering structural integrity, floor, doors, seals, corner castings and CSC plate, pass all and the container carries an IICL certificate. Cargo Worthy is a lighter inspection, sometimes called Pre-Trip Inspection (PTI), verifying the container can safely carry cargo on one more sea voyage and that the CSC plate is valid for at least the next 30 months. WWT does not require a CSC-valid inspection, the depot certifies the container is watertight (light-test the seams) and structurally sound for static storage. As-Is is the absence of grade: no inspection, no certification, no guarantee, you take the unit in its current condition.

Which grade should I pick for my use case?

Match the grade to the load path, not to a safety margin. Continuous international sea shipping (liner fleets, high-value cargo): IICL, you want the strictest in-service standard, and if you resell you keep a premium exit price. One-way (SOC, one-way) export or occasional sea voyage: Cargo Worthy, the CSC plate is valid, the price is roughly half of IICL, and the container is fit for the trip. Static ground storage (site cabin, workshop, archive, on-site warehouse): WWT, you pay for watertightness, not for a CSC certification you'll never use. Container modification project (home, office, food truck, workshop): CW or WWT if you plan to cut and weld; As-Is if you need a sacrificial box for heavy cutting. Prestige presentation (showroom, luxury build, corporate branding): Brand New / One-Trip, clean paint, intact floor, uniform appearance. Decision rule from the buying-vs-leasing guide: pay for the certification you actually need, not one grade above.

What's the price difference between grades?

Take Cargo Worthy as the market reference (index 1.0). Approximate price ratios on a 20DC in a supplied port: As-Is ≈ 0.5-0.7× CW (600-800 USD zone when CW is 1,000-1,200 USD), because As-Is may need 300-1,500 USD of repairs to be watertight, check total cost before booking. WWT ≈ 0.8-0.9× CW (roughly 100-200 USD cheaper) thin margin, but if you don't need the CSC plate the savings compound over a fleet. Cargo Worthy = 1.0× (index reference). IICL ≈ 1.5-1.9× CW (1,500-2,300 USD zone) because of the strict inspection standard and the resale premium. Brand New / One-Trip ≈ 2.0-2.5× CW (2,000-3,000 USD zone for 20DC; 40HC reaches 4,000 USD in undersupplied cities) because it's factory-fresh. Ratios are indicative and vary by port supply, a Cargo Worthy in an oversupplied Chinese port can be cheaper than an As-Is in an undersupplied African port.

What mistakes should I avoid when picking a grade?

Four traps recurring on transactions. (1) Over-specifying: buying IICL for static storage adds 30-50% to the invoice for a certification you'll never use, WWT or CW handles the job. Match grade to load path, not to peace of mind. (2) Confusing As-Is and CW: the sticker price gap looks small, but As-Is often needs 300-1,500 USD of repairs (patch weld, floor replacement, seal renewal) to become watertight. Compare landed-and-repaired price, not sticker price. (3) Ignoring CSC plate expiry: a CW-labelled container with a CSC plate expiring in 6 months is unusable for a 12-month lease abroad. Ask for the CSC expiry date in writing before buying. (4) Assuming grade equals age: a 15-year-old IICL that has been maintained is often in better structural shape than a 5-year-old CW that has been abused, grade is about condition on inspection date, not fleet age. Cross-check with the cw-vs-wwt-containers and new-vs-used-shipping-containers guides for detailed grade-by-grade comparisons.

What is the difference between Cargo Worthy and Wind & Watertight?

Both keep weather out. Cargo Worthy means structurally fit to carry cargo at sea, which for international carriage also requires a valid CSC safety approval. Wind & Watertight implies no certification for ocean carriage and is usually the right, cheaper grade for static storage.

Why do container grade prices change?

Because the cost of moving between grades changes. Survey and certification capacity, local repair rates, and whether regional buyers intend to ship or to store all move the gap. Location moves both grades, and not by the same amount.

Can a Wind & Watertight container be upgraded to Cargo Worthy?

Often, yes — through repair and survey, with a valid CSC plate as the outcome rather than the starting point. Whether it is worth doing depends entirely on local repair cost and surveyor availability, which is why the upgrade cost at that specific location is the number to ask for.

Is a grade permanent?

No. A grade is the outcome of an inspection on a date against a standard. A unit graded cargo worthy months ago and stored outdoors since may not be today, and two depots can grade the same box differently in good faith. Ask when it was surveyed, by whom, and whether the grade is re-confirmed at release.

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