CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin 2.JPGCMA CGMThe CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, the largest container ship to ever enter a US port.
The largest container ship to ever call at a United States port, the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, just pulled into Long Beach, CA for its second visit to the US.
It's big: longer than an American aircraft carrier and more than 20 stories tall, the ship is capable of carrying 18,000 twenty-foot containers. 
According to the French shipping company's website,the ship has a latest-generation engine "as powerful as 900 Ford Focus cars[,] and her 21 knots thrust is equivalent to that of 11 Boeing 747-400 engines."
CMA CGM Benjamin FranklinCMA CGMBig.
It will be inaugurated today at a closed ceremony "in line with the great seafaring tradition" in honor of American statesman and founding father Ben Franklin.
Most ships of similar or larger size are usually unable to be accommodated at American ports, and many of the current cranes simply cannot manage stacking containers 10 high, as is possible on the Ben Franklin.
This will soon change, however, thanks to a $4.6 billion investment into the port of Long Beach including a new $1.31 billion terminal.
CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin 3bis (1).JPGCMA CGMReally big.