Update Feb. 29
Dwarfing other vessels in Elliott Bay the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin headed into it's short term berth at Terminal 18 on the morning of Feb. 29.

Update Feb. 28
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin is estimated to arrive between 4am and 5am at West Seattle's Terminal 18. The huge container ship won't be here long. It's scheduled to leave again at 8am on Tuesday morning according to commercial maritime sources.

Update Feb. 16
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, a massive container ship will arrive in Seattle Monday, Feb. 29 after visits in Long Beach and Oakland, California.

Original Post
Harbor island's Terminal 18 is going to get a huge visitor later this month when the largest container ship to ever visit Seattle (or any North American port) the Benjamin Franklin sails here.

Terminal 18 is equipped to handle the new class of Post Panamax ships (unlike Terminal 5 which has yet to be upgraded) which in the case of the Benjamin Franklin can carry 18,000 containers. A conventional container ship can carry 10,000. Terminal 18 is the largest container facility in the Pacific Northwest with 10 cranes and 24 truck lanes. The massive 200,000 ton vessel, at 1310 feet long is longer than two Space Needles and wider than the football field at Century Link. It stands 200 feet tall.

The ship is owned by France-based shipping company CMA CGM Group, flagged out of London and was built in China where it is based.

You can learn more about this massive vessel here: http://www.cma-cgm-blog.com/cma-cgm-benjamin-franklin/

During its maiden voyage it made a stop in Oakland, barely clearing the Golden Gate bridge by just 20 feet.

You can follow the ship on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cmacgm/