By all accounts, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach met the challenge of efficiently handling the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin when the 18,000-TEU ship, the largest ever to serve a U.S. port, came calling. In its initial visit in Los Angeles over the Christmas holiday, the port flipped the mega-ship in 56 hours, handling 11,200 container moves and averaging nearly 30 lifts per crane, per hour. The Benjamin Franklin returned in February, calling at the PCT terminal in Long Beach, with equally positive results.
But certainly wanting to make a statement that Los Angeles — and Long Beach and Oakland — were ready for the mega-ship age, the ports no doubt threw everything at the Benjamin Franklin, intent on making a big splash. They did, of course, but the true test, skeptics said, would come when carriers sent more than a single 18,000-TEU vessel their way. … When CMA CGM this month announced it would deploy six vessels with capacities of up to 18,000 TEUs to the West Coast as part of the carrier’s Pearl River Express service beginning in May, it was the latest indication that the French carrier believes Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland are up to the task.
