In the automated terminal at Qingdao Port of Shandong Port Group, “Zhi Fei”, China’s first commercially operated intelligent container ship, recently resorted to autonomous navigation to enter the berthing spot precisely. In the process, the ship’s navigation, berthing and operations were all autonomous. After “Zhi Fei” took its place, the vacuum automated mooring system, which is equipped in the automated terminal at Qingdao Port, took merely 30 seconds to have the ship moored in the designated spot. In the process, vacuum sucking discs were firmly affixed to the ship body and manual mooring was totally unnecessary. Afterwards, the ship fostered seamless coordination with automated handling equipment such as automatic bridge canes and automatic guided vehicles to ensure loading and unloading operations in an intelligent way and without manual interventions. This breakthrough marks that China’s container ship has berthed autonomously in a fully automated terminal for the first time, and helps coordinated development between intelligent shipping and smart ports to embark on a new stage.  (Zhou Xiaofeng)

“Zhi Fei” is berthing in the terminal.