The unexpected successful development of international container traffic has indicated the emergence of the modern container ship as the most important means of transport in international freight traffic, which already has a long tradition of origin and development. From 1980 until today, there has been a significant increase in the transport of general cargo by containers, and thus there is an increase in the capacity of the container fleet, so today there are more and more container ships in the world. The essence and priority of studying the development trend of container shipping is based on considering and creating indicators of development and characteristics of container ships and their divisions with special reference to the development and analysis of the container fleet in the period from 1980 until 2019. After introductory considerations and the introduction of the topic, the historical development of container shipping and its characteristics are given, with special reference to the container as a unit of freight transport. The second part of the paper provides an overview of the development trends of the container fleet in the world from 1980 to 2019. Related to this the author of several practical proposals.