Maersk Containership Is Largest To Call U.S.

History was made by Maersk Lines last June when the Line's containership, Susan Maersk sailed into the Port of Long Beach, Calif. on its maiden voyage - establishing a new record as the largest ever to call a U.S. port. Measuring twice the length of the Washington Monument, wider than the Panama Canal and equal in length to about four football fields, the 6,600 TEU vessel was deployed into Maersk's Asia/U.S. West Coast TP6 Service. This vessel, and others similar to it, will allow Maersk to accommodate seasonal surges in cargo from Asia, and will better serve exporters of refrigerated cargoes from the U.S. A sampling of the top 10 import commodities carried from Asia on Susan Maersk include: electrical appliances, footwear, department store merchandise and textiles. Export commodities from North America include: citrus fruit, hay, consolidated cargo, and meat and poultry.