LA Welcomes the Largest Container Ship to Visit US

The largest container ship to ever dock at a North American port arrived in Los Angeles over the weekend.

The cargo ship arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, the first part of a multi-stage trip along the U.S. west coast that will also see it stop in Oakland on December 31st. The Port of LA already creates more than a million jobs across the country, and the region accounts for 40% of all United States sea imports.

The ship is 177 feet wide, making it both too wide and long to fit through the Panama Canal, even after its planned expansion is completed.

French shipping company CMA CGM named its newest ultra-large container ship for one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. Larger, newer, more emissions-friendly ships are good news for many environmental reasons, and could vastly improve economic prospects for global trade – but not unless cities are prepared to handle them.

A port statement says that’s about a third larger than the biggest container ships that now call at the twin ports of Los Angeles and adjacent Long Beach. It will remain at the port for four days. “Container movement is the heart of our economy here in the harbor area”. “We want to prove to the world that Los Angeles is big ship ready”. Some ports are ready.

The 398-meter, 18,000 TEU capacity MV CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin arrived just after 4 a.m.at APM Terminals’ Pier 400 at the port of Los Angeles after sailing from China. “The reality is a ship like this will not be able to get deployed on a permanent basis until more ports are ready to accommodate them”.