Biggest Vessel to call U.S. East Coast comes to Virginia first
The biggest container ship to ever come to the U.S. East Coast, the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, made its first stop at The Port of Virginia® and in doing so surpassed a short-lived record for ship-size set earlier this summer.
The Roosevelt’s vessel’s capacity is 14,400 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. The COSCO Development set the mark in May when it sailed into the Norfolk Harbor carrying 13,092 TEUs. Since then, slightly larger vessels have come and gone.
France-based CMA CGM is part of the OCEAN Alliance, which is an alliance of ocean carriers composed of COSCO, Evergreen Line and OOCL. In an alliance, the members agree to contribute ships and share space on those vessels. The vessel is in the alliance’s South Atlantic Express (SAX) service and it came to The Port of Virginia via the Panama Canal. In this weekly Asia-to-U.S. East Coast service, there are 11 vessels ranging in size from 11,000 to 14,000 TEUs. Virginia is the first U.S. port of call on the SAX service.
Big-ship history at The Port of Virginia:
August 2017: CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, 14,400 TEUs
June 2017: OOCL France, 13,208 TEUs
May 2017: COSCO Development, 13,092 TEUs
August 2016: APL Yangshan, 10,700 TEUs
July 2016: MOL Benefactor, 10,000 TEUs
March 2012: MSC Roma, 9,200 TEUs
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VPA owns and through its private operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals, LLC (VIT), operates four general cargo facilities Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and Richmond Marine Terminal. In fiscal year 2013, The Port of Virginia provided more than 374,000 jobs and generated $60.3 billion in total economic impact throughout the Commonwealth.
