Wu said 70 percent of the ships along the route are big vessels full of cargo.

"More ships stopping here means more profit for our port," he said. "As a result, not only our port, but all ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road benefit."

Wang Lin, chief officer of the MV Cosco Netherlands, said nearly 1,000 standard containers would be loaded during the eight-hour stop at Kaohsiung.

"It's expected electronic devices like personal computers and smartphones will be the main products loaded this time," he said.

The 5-year-old ship can carry more than 13,000 standard containers.

An agent at Kaohsiung port who declined to be named said 60 to 70 percent of all nonlocal ships at the port are from the Chinese mainland.

"If those ships from the mainland didn't stop in Kaohsiung, our port would look deserted," he said.