Giant Container Ship Unloads at Port of Los Angeles (VIDEO)

An absolutely amazing vessel.

At WSJ:

The largest container ship ever to visit U.S. shores completed its first stop at the Port of Los Angeles ahead of schedule Tuesday night. Analysts, however, say U.S. ports aren’t prepared to regularly handle the peaks in container activity that such megaships present.

As global trade volumes swell and shippers seek to drive down costs, they are turning to larger, slower but more efficient vessels that strain the capacity of even the most efficient ports. Leading to the arrival of the 1,300-foot-long Benjamin Franklin, owned by French shipping line CMA CGM SA, officials at the Port of Los Angeles undertook an unprecedented level of preparation.

Trucking companies were notified of the glut of arriving containers, and railcars were positioned weeks in advance to ensure a speedy turnaround, according to a CMA CGM news release. The Benjamin Franklin, the largest container vessel ever to visit a U.S. port, carries a maximum of 18,000 20-foot equivalent units, a standard measure for container cargo.

Two weeks before the colossal ship arrived, the port received detailed information on container count and placement on the ship, as well as a breakdown of their destinations—to the Midwest via rail, for example, or to local retailers or inland warehouses to be unloaded. “Typically, we get that information 36 to 48 hours before the vessel arrives,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Knowing it all farther ahead of time “gave us a great line of sight as to how we should plan railcar assets, truck power and longshore labor,” Mr. Seroka said, adding that it is a system the port wants to replicate as more large ships come to call...

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