The Box: Latest location

Following the Box has been difficult in the last few weeks. BBC Business Editor Jeremy Hillman explains why:

As you know we've had some persistent problems with the tracking of the container which have been frustrating for many of you and for which I'd like to apologise.

"We attached a tracking device to the container at the start of the project [an Inmarsat C transceiver kit for those keen to know the technical details].

"Unfortunately the device developed intermittent problems, so when the container arrived in New Jersey late last year we removed the device and it was returned to the UK for repair before being shipped back to Brazil and re-attached to the Box.

It worked for a while but now we have lost the signal again. As part of our planning for this project we had a system in place to switch to the appropriate individual ship's tracking devices in the event of such a fault.

Whilst that has been possible it has required greater resources than we have available to manually carry out this process over such a long period. Our contingency planning allowed only for short periods of a faulty transceiver and not the seemingly intractable problems we have encountered.

The Box is currently in Hong Kong en route to Japan. From there we expect it to travel to Russia before a final return to the UK in June/July. We hope to bring television, radio and online reports from each of those locations and we will attempt to manually update the position as frequently as we are able.

There is certainly still a fascinating story to tell about global trade in the current economic climate. You may also be interested to know that we are currently in negotiations to donate the Container for charitable use in Africa at the end of the project, a story we will also bring you.

Thank you so much for all following the container thus far and all your encouragement.

In normal circumstances the location of the Box should be shown on the map, as transmitted from a Global Positioning System [GPS] unit attached to it.

Use the arrow controls top left to move the map left, right, up and down. Use the plus and minus button to zoom in and out. You can also move the map by clicking on it with a mouse.

The location shown for the Box could be several hours old, depending when our systems received the last transmitted position. Sometimes we may use the position of the ship carrying the container to give its location, if the container has been stowed in a position that means its GPS unit cannot send a signal to satellites.

The green dots show previous locations for the Box, with times given in GMT. The green line connecting them indicates the approximate route.

At times, the Box will not move for periods up to several days, awaiting its next load or transport. For latest information on what's going on, see The home of The Box .

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