Container feeder

A container feeder is a small box ship, roughly 1,000 to 3,000 TEU, that collects and distributes containers between a deep-sea hub port and the smaller regional ports the mainline ULCVs cannot or will not call. Feeders are the spoke side of the hub-and-spoke liner network: a 23,000 TEU vessel discharges at Singapore, Rotterdam, or Tanjung Pelepas, and feeders relay the boxes onward to secondary ports. Most are gearless and rely on shore cranes, though some carry their own gear for ports without quay cranes. Shallow draft and high port-call frequency define the type. The term overlaps with feedermax (about 2,000 to 3,000 TEU) at the upper end.