Having trialled out a mega boxship across the Pacific in the past three months, the French line CMA CGM is taking the plunge, announcing ambitious plans to deploy six 18,000 teu vessels on the transpacific, starting at the end of May.
The move is a massive change for the Asia-US tradelane, which up until December has not been served by the largest vessels afloat. For CMA CGM, the move redeploys vessels from money losing Asia-Europe routes to a more profitable tradelane, CMA CGM describing the transpacific in a release as “the most active and dynamic market”.
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin became the largest ship ever to call in the US last December and was inaugurated on February 19 in Long Beach.
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin will remain on the transpacific market with another five 18,000 teu vessels joining it on the Pearl River Express line.
