TEU stands for which term, and what is it used to measure in container shipping?

• A. Twenty-Earth Unit; used to measure vessel tonnage
• B. Twenty-Foot Unit; used to measure voyage distance
• C. Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit; used to measure container capacity and throughput
• D. Twenty-Three Unit; used to measure port fees

Answer: (C)

TEU stands for Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit and is used to measure container capacity and throughput. It’s defined by the space of a standard 20‑foot container, so a 40‑foot container equals 2 TEUs, a 45‑foot container about 2.25 TEUs, and so on. This unit lets ports, carriers, and shippers compare volumes across different container sizes and quantify how much cargo moves through a port or on a vessel over a given period. It does not measure vessel tonnage, voyage distance, or port fees, which is why the other options aren’t correct.