Largest containership calls at port of Long Beach

Largest containership calls at port of Long Beach    The 'CSCL Asia,' an 8,500-TEU containership, made its maiden call at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., Saturday, docking at the Total Terminals International mega-terminal at Pier T on Terminal Island.
   The first of five sister ships that China Shipping Container Lines has ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, the 'CSCL Asia' is 1,096 feet long and 140 feet wide, which is 30 feet wider than the Panama Canal..
   The 'CSCL Asia' is deployed in a transpacific service that calls in China at Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian and Hong Kong, and then crosses the Pacific to Long Beach and Oakland, Calif., before returning to Shanghai.
   Before the summer is over, Long Beach expects the arrival of four additional 8,000-TEU vessels, owned by Orient Overseas Container Line, China Ocean Shipping Co., CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co.
   Of these behemoths, the 'CSCL Asia' has the largest declared capacity. China Shipping Container Lines, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of China Shipping (Group) Co., has also ordered eight 9,600-TEU vessels.