News / Are the US west coast ports ‘big ship-ready’ – or perhaps not quite yet?

Port of Los Angeles

Christmas saw the 17,859 teu CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin become the largest container vessel ever to call at a US port when it arrived at Los Angeles from China on December 26 (pictured).

The deployment of the newbuild ultra-large container vessel (ULCV) to the transpacific route, which also included a call at the neighbouring port of Oakland, was regarded by some analysts as a test of the capacity of US west coast ports to handle the biggest boxships afloat that had ...