Biggest cargo ship to ever grace S.F. Bay is here

The 1,310-foot CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, which is as tall as a 20-story building and can carry up to 18,000 20-foot-long shipping containers, chugged toward the Port of Oakland around 9 a.m. on it’s maiden voyage after setting sail from China earlier this month with a stop in Los Angeles just after Christmas.

A pilot who had been aboard the great vessel said the gleaming navy blue boat still had “that new ship smell.”

Port workers, not usually tasked with handling a ship of the Benjamin Franklin’s proportions, have been preparing for its arrival for weeks on a simulator at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, said Capt. Peter McIsaac, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots.

The vessel’s voyage is seen as a test run for massive megaships, which make economic sense because they can handle lots of cargo, are efficient to run and need only small crews — the Benjamin Franklin carries a crew of 28 mariners.

Pilot boats tagged alongside the Benjamin Franklin before tugboats were expected to pick it up for the final leg of its trip into port.