A container is uploaded in Qingdao Port [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]

As the whistle blew, the vessel MOL SEABREEZE – operated by Singapore-based shipping line Ocean Network Express Pte Ltd, or ONE – began her maiden voyage on April 20 from Qingdao Port in East China's Shandong province.

ONE is the Southeast Asia shipping line to be launched at Shandong Port Group or SPG – based in the city of Qingdao – which is one of the world's biggest port operators.

To date, SPG has opened a total of 310 shipping routes connecting itself to the world.

The ONE line ranks at No 6 globally in terms of operating capacity, operating 222 container vessels with a total capacity of 1.61 million TEUs or twenty-foot equivalent units, accounting for 6.6 percent of the globe's total container capacity.

ONE and SPG have continued to strengthened their business in recent years.

"ONE is willing to make efforts to help Qingdao Port become an international hub port in Northeast Asia by expanding its shipping services based on market demand," said ONE President and Managing Director Takahiro Kikuchi.

SPG has opened eight foreign trade routes since the start of this year, which head to Southeast Asia, India and South Korea.

The latest route is scheduled to operate once a week, with its major port rotations including the ports of Laem Chabang, Ho Chi Minh and Manila.

The new service is expected to fill a gap for SPG, with no Southeast Asia line currently being operated there by ONE.

It will also help to optimize ONE's and THE Alliance's short-haul and long-haul shipping routes being deployed from Qingdao Port. In the meantime, it will strengthen the route density of the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI and RCEP–Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership–shipping routes. It is hoped this will expand its market coverage of countries involved in the BRI, helping SPG to build an internationally advanced logistics hub.

The route enjoys two distinctive features. One is efficiency, as it provides direct shipping services from the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand to Qingdao. The consumer goods imported from Southeast Asia can now arrive in Qingdao within six days.

This will promote SPG’s moves to become a comprehensive port for transporting the means of production and livelihood, thus stepping up the construction of a distribution base for consumer goods in North China.

The second feature is centralization. With Qingdao Port as the route's first and only port of call in North China, the route will help SPG attract more goods from North and Northeast China, as well as surrounding hinterland areas for exports to Southeast Asia through Qingdao Port.

SPG General Manager Li Fengli said that his group would tap into the opportunities presented by the newly opened route to step up the development of an international shipping hub in Northeast Asia, with Qingdao Port as the front-runner.

Li added that SPG would also accelerate its development as a distribution center for consumer goods in North China to satisfy consumer demand.

The ceremony takes place for the maiden voyage of the ONE service. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]