Largest Ship, Benjamin Franklin Dock And Depart From Los Angeles Port

by Benson Agoha | Shipping

* Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti addressed
the media from the Port of Los Angeless. (Credit: via Twitter)

A happy LA Mayor, Eric Garcetti happily addressed the media after the largest ship ever built docked at the Los Angeles Port in the run-up to the New Year, telling the media that it's arrival a powerful moment in the City's history.

Later, his office greeted Captain and Crew, tweeting: "Mayor @ericgarcetti welcomes the largest ship to dock in the USA at the".

Benjamin Franklin's size is significant because it eclipsed the tragic Titanic and the massive air-freighters known to have been useful for congesting overfull ports.

The ship is operated and run by CMA CGM as seen on its marks.  CMA CGM is a shipping company based out of Marseille, France.

Shipping company officials said their plan is to use the ship in regular service that will connect China with the West Coast of the United States, the INQUISITR reports.

The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin is longer than the Empire State Building is tall and makes the largest US Navy aircraft carrier look tiny.

The giant ship can carry the volume of 235 Olympic swimming pools.

In order to move more cargo with less fuel, ocean freight carriers are racing to build megaships with much larger capacities than the typical ships calling at U.S. ports.

The average container ship that is now being built is almost three times the size of the average ship a decade ago.

The massive cargo ship arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday December 26th, 2015. But Los Angeles is only the first part of many stops that it will make along the US west coast.

Addressing the Crew in a press release, Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti said:

“It’s fitting that the largest container ship to ever traverse North American waters would make its first call right here at the Port of Los Angeles,” said Garcetti.

“The arrival of the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin sends a powerful message that our port stands among the world’s greatest, and that we are prepared to continue growing and adapting to the demands of our global economy.”

The cargo ship plans to make a stop in Oakland on Thursday morning, December 31st.

Oakland is only one of a few U.S. ports that can receive megaships, which carry large loads of cargo. Oakland’s port has invested millions of dollars in changes, which include dredging berths and channels to depths of 50 feet, raising the height of cranes and updating marine terminals, port official said.

Last month, port officials announced that they have plans to raise the height of four gantry cranes at the Oakland International Container Terminal by 26 feet to accommodate the ships that come in to the harbor. The project will cost approximately $13.95 million and is expected to begin in April.

The cargo ship is expected to arrive at the Port of Oakland at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. It has plans to stay at Berth 24 at the Ports America Outer Harbor Terminal until Sunday afternoon or Monday morning, according to port officials.

* The INQUISITR contribute to this report.