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Germany: Lidl shipping company Tailwind invests in new container ships and further expands Asian services

Discount Retail Chain Lidl's sister company the shipping company Tailwind Shipping Lines, it mother company the Schwarz Group is pushing ahead with the expansion of its logistics expertise by sea. In addition to ordering five new mega container ships for the Asia-Europe trade, the company is also significantly expanding its intra-Asia connections, including new port calls and additional ship capacity.


Tailwind Shipping Lines, the shipping company behind the discounter Lidl, which belongs to the Schwarz Group, has ordered five new container ships, each with a capacity of 8,400 TEU, from the Chinese shipyard Guangzhou Shipyard International. The company confirmed this to the "Lebensmittel Zeitung". The new buildings are to be gradually integrated into the existing Panda Express Service (PAX) between Asia and Europe.


The investment sum is estimated at over 520 million euros, around 120 million US dollars per unit. These are the first newbuildings in Tailwind's fleet, which has so far mainly relied on chartered and used medium-sized container ships. The new ships will be equipped with LNG dual-fuel propulsion and can be operated with both conventional marine diesel and more environmentally friendly liquefied petroleum gas.


According to its own information, Tailwind currently operates a total of nine vessels, including two with the largest capacity of 6,864 TEU and 6,078 TEU respectively.


PAX with new hub in Port Kelang

A central component of the PAX service will be Port Kelang in Malaysia in the future. The country's largest seaport will replace the previous call in Colombo (Sri Lanka) as a transshipment hub. The route of PAX will run from Qingdao via Ningbo and Dachan Bay to Port Kelang from June 17, 2025, before continuing to Barcelona and Koper. The parent company Lidl is also expected to benefit from this.


Tiger Express (TEX) expands to include Vietnam

In addition to intercontinental traffic, Tailwind is also expanding its intra-Asian offering. The existing Tiger Express Service (TEX), which previously operated between Chattogram in Bangladesh, Colombo and Port Kelang, will be supplemented by an additional port call in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) from 17 June. In the future, the route will lead from Chattogram via Port Kelang to Vietnam, then back to Bangladesh via Port Kelang and Colombo.

Tailwind uses two container ships for the TEX service: the "ASL in Peony" (1,900 TEU) and the "Nordtiger" (1,700 TEU). According to Nico Peters, Vice President Commercial Management at Tailwind, the offer is aimed in particular at industries such as the textile industry, which rely on predictable and flexible transport solutions for raw materials and semi-finished goods.


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