The Ports Of Los Angeles, Long Beach -- Megaships Arriving -- December 29, 2015

From The Los Angeles Times:

The largest container ship ever to arrive at a North American port is now docked at the southern tip of Los Angeles, a sign of the rapid changes underway in the global shipping industry.

The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, which arrived Saturday at the Port of Los Angeles on a maiden voyage from China and South Korea, can carry nearly a third more cargo than the largest ships that currently call at the San Pedro Bay ports. 

In an effort to move more cargo on less fuel, ocean freight carriers are in a race to build megaships with much larger capacities than the typical ships calling at U.S. ports. The average container ship being built now is nearly three times the size of the average a decade ago.

The rapid increase in vessel size has posed challenges for ports around the world, which now must contend with enormous volumes of cargo arriving at once. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's two busiest seaports, have been among the first in the United States to deal with the advent of larger ships.

Both ports are in the midst of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projects to deepen channels and expand terminals to adapt to the changing world of shipping. 

Despite the slow start to the year, cargo volume at both ports has picked up significantly. Through November, the Port of Long Beach increased container volume by 5.5% this year compared with the same period last year. The Port of Los Angeles is down just slightly -- 1.9% -- through the same period last year.

The ports are right next to each other in San Pedro Harbor.

CMA-CGM is an oceanic shipping company, founded in Marseille, France, in 1978. In 1978 it started with one ship; today it is the third-largest container company in the world.