BNSF moves cargo from one of the world’s largest container ships

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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It will take 10 trains to move BNSF’s portion of cargo from one of the world’s largest container ships.
Port of Los Angeles

The largest container ship ever to call at a North American port, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, arrived at the Port of Los Angeles on Saturday, December 26.

 

The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, a brand new 18,000-Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container ship, is the largest container ship ever to visit a U.S. port. TEU is a term used to indicate a ship’s cargo capacity. It refers to a 20’x8’x8′ cargo container. The longer 40’x8’x8′ cargo container equals two TEUs.

BNSF was ready with a train to transport many of the ship’s containers inland.

BNSF said it will take 10 of its trains to move its share of the cargo, more than 2,500 containers, to inland intermodal facilities located in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and Memphis. From there the containers will continue by truck to their destinations.

The ship is among the largest in the French shipping line CMA CGM’s fleet and is about a third larger than the biggest container ships that currently call at the San Pedro Bay Port Complex at the Port of Los Angeles. The ship will depart from the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 30, for the Port of Oakland.

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