Never allow anyone to smoke inside a container. A carelessly discarded cigarette can cause a serious fire that may destroy the cargo and the ship, and may cause the loss of life.
In tropical areas, the air inside a dry cargo container is hot, humid and suffocating, especially inside a 40' container. To relieve discomfort when packing a container, it is necessary to use forced ventilation with an electric blower or fan. The air humidity is high, especially during the wet or rainy season. Forced ventilation can minimize humid air from being trapped inside a container, as the air may condense into liquid and damage the cargo when the container enters a subzero temperature area.
The weight of cargo must be distributed evenly within the container. As a rule of thumb, the center of gravity should not be above half the height of the container, and it should be within two feet from the center of container in the front-rear direction and within one foot in the sidewise (transverse) direction.
Cargoes like video monitors and glasswares have a stacking limit or the maximum stack. Otherwise, the compression from excess weight of overlaying packages may damage the goods underneath. For this reason, heavier packages should never be stowed above lighter packages. Liquids should never be stowed above non-liquids. Keep soft packages away from other packages or objects with protrusions or sharp corners, to prevent damage cause by movement at sea and on land (rail and truck).
A ship at sea may move in different directions simultaneously. Always apply dunnage (i.e., material used to separate and protect the cargo from damage during conveyance, for example, foam, mat and fiberboard) and/or cargo securements when necessary to prevent the cargo from crashing and cascading inside the container. Cascaded cargo may lie against the container doors, posing danger to any person who opens the doors.