The Port of Los Angeles celebrated a major milestone Thursday when it moved its 10 millionth TEU in a span of 12 months, the first Western Hemisphere port to do so.
“Stacked end-to-end, 10 million containers would circle the world one and a half times,” said Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners President Jaime Lee. “It’s a lot of cargo to handle by any measure. We are deeply grateful to the longshore workers, truckers, terminal operators, shipping line partners and all of the stakeholders that have made this remarkable achievement possible, particularly in the face of an unprecedented pandemic.”
The milestone cargo unit was placed onboard the CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci at Fenix Marine Services Container Terminal.
“As the Port of Los Angeles’ largest ocean carrier, the CMA CGM Group ships thousands of containers to and from California every day,” said Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM and APL North America. “But today’s historic TEU –– No. 10 million for the port –– carries more than just cargo, but hope. It shows that, as the pandemic subsides in the United States, the American economy is roaring back to life.”
By the time the port ends its 2020-2021 fiscal year on June 30, over 10.8 million TEUs are expected to be processed by the Los Angeles port, officials have said.