MV Kooringa was the world's first fully cellular purpose-built container ship

Container ship

Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...

 and was built by Australian company, Associated Steamships Pty. Ltd.

Adelaide Steamship Company

The Adelaide Steamship Company was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide and Melbourne and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service...

 in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co

Malcolm McEacharn

Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.- Early life :McEacharn was born in...

 and commissioned in May 1964. It was built at the New South Wales State Dockyard

State Dockyard, Newcastle, New South Wales

The State Dockyard at Dykes Point, Newcastle was built by the New South Wales Government from 1938 until 1941 and opened in 1942 during World War II. The dockyard was constructed using much of the plant and buildings from the former Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works which had ceased...

 at Dykes Point, Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

 as a "custom-designed cellular container ship to handle 20-ton containers".

The 6,750 ton ship was designed to handle 10,000 tons of containerised cargo

Containerization

Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...

 in 36 hours by being loaded and unloaded simultaneously. It entered the Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

-Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

 trade in 1964, arriving at Fremantle Harbour

Fremantle Harbour

Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day.The harbour is also...

 on 19 June that year. Two more purpose built container ships, MV Kanimbla and MV Manoora joined the regular service in 1969 and the three ships continued to operate until 1975 when competition from rail freight made the service non-viable.

The ship was named after the now closed mining town of Kooringa, South Australia.

Another ship of the same name

A ship of the same name, the 339 ton SS Kooringa was built for the Yorke Peninsula Steamship Co. Ltd. in 1902 and ran mail, passenger and cargo between Port Adelaide and ports along the Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...

. Yorke Steamship Co. was ultimately taken over by Adelaide Steamship Company.