The French ocean carrier will deploy the mammoth 18,000-TEU CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin and five sister ships in the transpacific trade between Asia and the United States West Coast starting in May.
CMA CGM will deploy its flagship fleet of six 18,000-TEU containerships between Asia and the United States West Coast starting in May, the French ocean carrier said in a statement.
The company said the move is in line with its growth strategy and that it made the decision because the Asia-U.S. trade is currently more “dynamic” (i.e. profitable) than the Asia-Europe trade. CMA CGM says its volumes to the U.S. grew 30 percent in 2015 alone.
Deploying such massive vessels in the transpacific trade could be risky, however, as slow global trade growth and rampant overcapacity have caused rates in the once profitable Asia-Europe trade to tumble over the past year. Even with the help of its alliance compatriots and other slot purchasers, CMA CGM may find it difficult to find enough cargo demand to fill the ultra-large containerships on a regular basis.
Jacques Saade, the chief executive officer of the French carrier, made the decision after the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin was inaugurated in the Port of Long Beach last month. The ship then called the Port of Oakland and Port of Seattle, departing Seattle just this Tuesday. On an earlier visit to the U.S. in December, the ship called both Los Angeles and Oakland.
The company said when the Benjamin Franklin was docked in Long Beach last month, it was only able to be partially loaded because cranes were not high enough for the ship to be fully loaded.
Ed DeNike, president of SSA Containers, said his company will increase the height of six cranes at the Pacific Container Terminal in Long Beach, which is a joint venture between SSA, COSCO and CMA CGM, so that the 18,000-TEU ships can load containers 10 or 11 high on deck. When the Benjamin Franklin made its trial call to the terminal in February, the ship was limited to carrying containers in tiers of eight containers on deck.
SSA is also planning to raise the height of cranes at the Oakland International Container Terminal so that they can handle containers stacked eight or nine high.
CMA CGM said the ship would be deployed on its Pearl River Express service, currently considered part of the Ocean3 Alliance service network, but did not confirm what ports or terminals the ships will call beginning in May.
According to ocean carrier scheudle and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the Pearl River Express is presently operated with seven CMA CGM vessels, including the Benjamin Franklin, with an average capacity of 12,395 TEUs. The service has a port rotation of Fuqing, Xiamen, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian/Shenzhen, Long Beach, Oakland, and Fuqing.
Ocean3 Alliance members UASC and CSCL currently take slots on the Pearl River Express along with CMA CGM subsidiaries ANL and US Lines, as well as Hamburg Sud and subsidiary line Alianca.
The six 18,000-TEU vessels slated to join the loop are all named after explorers or scientists and in addition to the Benjamin Franklin include the CMA CGM Bougainville, CMA CGM Kerguelen, CMA CGM Georg Forster, CMA CGM Vasco de Gama, and CMA CGM Zheng He.
