US West Coast Not Ready for Mega Boxships
CMA CGM is testing the ability of the U.S. West Coast ports to handle the biggest containerships – are they ready? U.S. West Coast ports are not yet in a position to handle 18,000 teu containerships regularly and have much work to do in terms of improving productivity if they are to see them call on anything other than an ad-hoc basis. The 18,000-teu CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin will become the largest containership to call at any U.S. port when it arrives at the port of Los Angeles on 26 December. The new ship was delivered to French carrier CMA CGM at the start of the month and will join the Asia-U.S. West Coast ‘Pearl River Express’ service, part of the Ocean Three network, that normally operates with seven ships of around 11,400 teu.
No Sign of Ultra-Large Containership Mega Hubs: Analysis
Contrary to the views of some in the industry, Ultra Large Container Vessels are continuing to call at multiple North European ports per loop and are not concentrating on a mega-hub, according to Drewry’s latest Container Insight Weekly, excerpted here. Despite containerships doubling in size in the past 10 years on the Far East-North Europe route, there has not been a reduction in the number of North European ports called by each service. The average number of North European port calls per loop has remained broadly unchanged, at four per service string. As in the past, container services follow a traditional multi-port itinerary and call at about four separate North European ports.
