CMA-CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Visits Port of Long Beach

Massive Cargo Ship-A First for Long Beach

By C. MacDonald

LONG BEACH--One of the World's largest container cargo ships made its first visit to the Port of Long Beach yesterday drawing amazement from everyone who saw it.

The CMA CMG Benjamin Franklin's length is larger than the Empire State Building is high; it's wider than a football field and as tall as a 20 story building. The ship can carry 18,000 containers (each 20 feet side) and it was getting ready to unload many of them at the port. The French-owned vessel, flying under the British flag, was built in China and carrying cargo from China to the United States.

The green ship,” reportedly has nearly a 0” emissions, burns less fuel when it travels, has an Oil Recovery System to prevent leakage and has the latest technology.

It's so impressive to see,” said KTLA-TV Reporter Gayle Anderson, who covered its arrival to Long Beach aboard a special Harbor Breeze Cruise that included Port officials.

This is the biggest container ship I've ever seen and I've seen many in the 15-years I've operated Harbor Cruises,” said Dan Salas, CEO. It's massive! Until you see it in person, you don't really grasp its gigantic size.”

Larry and Olga Smith of Long Beach said they've seen container cargo ships in Panama, London, Genoa, Oakland, Vancouver and elsewhere but this is the biggest we've seen.” A friend in San Juan Capistrano was watching its arrival on KTLA and text us to get out and see it, since we live nearby. So we got on a Harbor Breeze tour and we're glad we did,” said Larry, who taught mechanical engineering at UCLA, UCSB and Cal State Northridge. It's a marvel of engineering.”

It's so stylish—very elegant and color-coordinated,” said Olga, a former IBM executive.

While it's still docked at the Port (it leaves Feb. 24th), you can see it from the waterfront, east of the Long Beach Convention Center, and you can see it up-close on a 45-minute harbor tour (Harbor Breeze ships board just north of the Aquarium of the Pacific and there's a parking garage across the street).

Capt. Kevin Nguyen, piloting our trip on Harbor Cruise, said he's amazed at the hauling capacity of the Benjamin Franklin. He also said that guests might get an added bonus on a harbor cruise—Yesterday we actually saw two whales coming right into Long Beach Harbor.”