CMA-CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

California Welcomes Mega Container Ship

One of the largest containerized cargo ships in the world — about one-third larger than the nation's current freighters — arrived on Dec. 26 around 4 a.m. for its first U.S. call at the Port of Los Angeles. On Dec. 30 the French-owned, Chinese built CMA-CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN leaves L.A. for a Dec. 31 call at the Port of Oakland before heading back to China. It returns to Southern California for a call at Port of Long Beach in the first quarter 2016. Considered a new chapter in Pacific Rim trade flow and supply chain optimization, several California ports worked closely with the third largest shipping firm in the world (CMA-GCM) to accommodate new, bigger vessels.

• The BENJAMIN FRANKLIN is longer than the Empire State Building if it were laid on its side!
• It can transport 18,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).
• It offers state-of-the-art, energy-efficient technologies.
• It will be deployed on the Pearl River Express, a service connecting the main China ports, including Xiamen, Nansha and Yantian, with the U.S. West Coast ports.
• A $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion to handle the largest ships opens in April 2016, followed by an $8 billion expansion of the Suez Canal.