BBC America’s flagship news program is sending a bright red shipping container around the world, tracking its progress and reporting from the ports it visits as a way to explore globalized business.
Viewers can track the container’s progress starting tonight (Sept. 8) starting at 7 p.m. ET on BBC World News America on the BBC America and BBC World News networks. At bbc.com/worldnewsamerica there’s a link where viewers can track the container in real time through GPS tracking.
The 40-foot container leaves Southampton in southern England today, carrying real goods. It’s initially headed to Scotland to be loaded with whisky and then put on a container ship bound for China. It will carry consumer goods from Shanghai to Philadelphia and general cargo from the U.S. to Germany. “The Box” is likely to travel to countries like Japan, Russia, Singapore and Vietnam carrying cargoes as varied as car parts and sporting goods.
Jeremy Hillman, BBC News Business and Economics Editor, said in a release: “‘The Box’ will highlight major issues and trends in the global economy at a critical and testing time. It is a creative, exciting project which will provide depth to our coverage of the credit crisis and global economic uncertainty.”
The idea of “The Box” comes from a book of the same name by Marc Levinson which tells the story of how the humble shipping container changed the face of world trade. The Container Shipping Information Service (CSIS) is working closely with the BBC on logistics and planning. BBC Business presenter Declan Curry will report the launch from Southampton and relay the progress of the container as it travels the world.
