Photo of the container ship named LISA. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A container ship named LISA arrived at the Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal of Qingdao Port, a subsidiary of Shandong Port Group (SPG), on April 21. This marked the official launch of Maersk's Asia to/from US East Coast service –TP20 service at Qingdao Port, which will further expand the service layout of Qingdao Port.

Committed to providing the best service, Qingdao Port has strengthened collaboration with shipping lines by sharpening its core competitiveness, namely high efficiency and productivity, and improving integrated supply chain solutions.

Since the beginning of this year, Qingdao Port has kept an eye on the shipping market of the US West Coast and the East Coast. Taking advantage of Maersk's re-launching of this significant service, Qingdao Port will consolidate its role as a transit hub for Northeast Asia and strive to boost the high-quality economic development of regions along the Yellow River basin.

According to port officials, Maersk plans to deploy 12 container ships each with a capacity of 4,200-5,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) on the service and Qingdao Port is the only port of call in northern China for the service. The launching of the service is a significant move for Maersk to improve its Asia to/from US East Coast shipping network and streamline the corridor from China's North-South to the US East Coast, which is also conducive to enhancing SPG's shipping network across the world.