At 7:00 on February 21, at the automated terminal of Qingdao Port in Shandong Port, China's first intelligent navigation container ship "Zhi Fei" in commercial operation was slowly approaching. Utilizing an unmanned autonomous navigation mode, it precisely entered the berthing area and quickly completed automatic mooring operations through the terminal's vacuum automatic mooring system. Subsequently, it seamlessly coordinated with fully automated loading and unloading equipment such as the terminal's automated quay cranes and automated guided vehicles, successfully completing loading and unloading operations without any human intervention, achieving an intelligent closed-loop process. This historic breakthrough marks China's first realization of fully autonomous berthing of a container ship at a fully automated terminal, achieving full-process unmanned operation in ship navigation, berthing, and operations, and advancing the coordinated development of intelligent shipping and smart ports in China to a new stage.

　　As the core achievement of the Shandong Maritime Department's pilot task for building a transportation powerhouse, the "Zhifei" is equipped with a domestically developed intelligent navigation core system. It is one of the world's earliest ships with autonomous navigation capabilities and the first intelligent cargo transport ship in China designed for commercial operation. It features three modes: manual driving, remote control, and unmanned autonomous navigation. This time, entering the automated terminal of Qingdao Port, it adopted the unmanned autonomous navigation mode, with the ship automatically and accurately planning the navigation route, steadily entering the berth area.

　　After the "Zhifei" ship was precisely positioned, the vacuum automatic mooring system equipped at Qingdao Port's automated terminal used vacuum suction cups to strongly adhere to the ship's hull. The entire process required no manual mooring, and the ship was securely fixed to the berth in just 30 seconds. This not only ensured the safety of mooring operations but also shortened the berthing time of ships. It is estimated that the annual berthing time of ships can be reduced by over 200 hours, equivalent to an increase of more than 10 ships' operational capacity per berth annually. Additionally, the automated terminal upgraded the automation of ship loading and unloading to version 2.0, lowering the operating height of the spreader by another meter compared to the previous version, reducing the single container loading and unloading time by 2.2% year-on-year. During operations, the independently developed terminal intelligent management system (A-TOS) and equipment intelligent control system (A-ECS) worked collaboratively, commanding automated quay cranes and automated guided vehicles with "millisecond-level" response speed for precise coordination. Furthermore, it deeply integrated artificial intelligence large model upgrade algorithms and computing power, innovatively achieving multiple new functions such as single-machine heavy in and heavy out for quay cranes and land-side container pickup and exchange, continuously enhancing operational efficiency.

　　Behind the efficient coordination lies the solid foundation of Qingdao Port's years of dedication to building a smart port. In the future, Qingdao Port will closely align with the requirements of building a strong transportation nation, further enhancing the port's levels of intelligence, greenness, and autonomy, continuously breaking through key core technologies, improving the intelligent shipping collaboration system, and striving to create a world-class smart green port, injecting greater strength into the construction of a strong transportation nation.