How container ports complicate wartime convoy logistics

Will container shipping change how convoys work in a major war?

Yes. Dependence on specialised ports and unloading equipment makes the logistics problem more difficult and less flexible.

Modern container shipping offers less wartime flexibility than its World War II counterpart. Container ships generally cannot unload themselves, while the ports that handle them are large, specialised, and fewer in number. That concentration makes unloading capacity a bottleneck even if enough merchant hulls survive to form convoys. Wartime planners would have to protect cranes, terminals, inland links, and alternate ports as part of the convoy system. Safe arrival would solve only part of the logistics problem.