NORFOLK, VA — The CMA CGM Marco Polo, the largest container ship to ever visit the East Coast, has arrived in Norfolk at the Port of Virginia.

The Marco Polo is three-and-a-half football fields long and can haul more than 16,000 20-foot-long containers. Standing on end, it would be taller than the height of the Empire State Building. The Port of Virginia has recently made major investments in its two largest terminals, the Norfolk International Terminal (NIT) and Virginia International Gateway (VIG) to support additional container traffic.

The City of Norfolk has been the North American headquarters for CMA CGM since 2005 and more recently announced that CMA CGM was expanding operations with a new $36 million investment and over 400 new jobs.

At the time of their recent investment in Norfolk, Mayor Kenneth Alexander said “CMA CGM’s decision to continue direct investment and support for jobs in Norfolk is a testament to our role as a hub for innovation in international maritime and logistics.”

CMA CGM is headquartered in Marseilles, France, and serves 19 U.S. ports. Its 538 vessels have a combined capacity of around 2.7 million twenty-foot container equivalent units, making it one of the biggest shipping companies in the world. The company employs more than 12,000 people in the United States.

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