On October 16th, the first-ever international container liner service in the history of South Korea's Jeju Island the "Qingdao-Jeju" container route, made its maiden voyage from Qingdao's cruise homeport, establishing a direct connection between Qdao and Jeju. This marked the arrival of the first container ship at Jeju Port in 57 years, highlighting how the newly launched Chinese route will bring economic benefits the region.

Jeju Island was designated as a trading port in 1968, but it mainly hosted small cargo ships and fishing boats, and it became popular port of call for cruise ships. Ferries also maintained services to the Korean mainland, but containers had to be transshipped from the major ports of South Korea.

Shandong Ocean Shipping Group introduced that after the new route's opening, Jeju will bid farewell to the traditional logistics model where imports and exports mainly passed through Busan orcheon, taking 5 to 14 days in total. Instead, an efficient and punctual "sea bus" operation model will be formed, with one service per week and sailing time greatly shortened to 2 days, realizing a direct connection between Qingdao and Jeju, and building a "next-day delivery" trade circle.

first vessel departed from China on October 16th and arrived in Jeju on October 18th. The ship, which entered service in 2023, 118 meters (387 feet) long.

The ship carried 40 containers of Chinese goods, including furniture and electronic products. It is reported that vessel is well-suited for the service, equipped with 109 reefer plugs, making it possible to export frozen fish.

The official launch and operation of "Qingdao-Jeju" container route is of great significance to Shandong Port. The opening of this route will further optimize and perfect the shipping network layout Shandong Port and South Korea, and help build a more efficient and stable maritime logistics transport channel, providing strong support for the economic and trade exchanges between the two regions