Tailwind Shipping Lines will operate its existing Dolphin Express Service (DEX) as an intra-European short-sea service with additional port calls beginning in October.
Lidl’s container shipping company is expanding its Moerdijk–Barcelona route to include calls at Antwerp in Belgium, Setúbal in Portugal, Cádiz in Spain, and Casablanca in Morocco.
Tailwind will operate the 21-day rotation weekly from the north, heading directly to Moerdijk on the return voyage from Barcelona, as before.
Tailwind will deploy three 1,380 TEU containerships, already part of its fleet, on the DEX. The Panda 004 and Panda 005 are already being used on the current DEX route.
The Panda 003, which has recently been under subcharter, will be returning to Tailwind with the launch of the expanded liner service.
Tailwind is adopting the new route to manage the flow of goods within Europe even more efficiently and sustainably in the future.
Nico Peters, VP Commercial Management at Tailwind Shipping Lines, explained: “Thanks to the higher cargo capacity of modern ships, sea transport has the advantage of lower CO2 emissions per container transported compared to transport by conventional diesel trucks.”
With the expanded Dolphin Express, Tailwind is also bringing its reliable service to additional ports in Western Europe and North Africa, both for Lidl and third-party customers.
In addition, Moerdijk provides connections to the hinterland. From there, in partnership with WEC Lines, A2B, and the Danser Group, a barge connection to Duisburg exists as an alternative to road haulage.
In addition, the port call in Casablanca will enable a fast connection from Morocco to China. In Barcelona, the shipping company can arrange transshipment to the Panda Express Service bound for East Asia.
Both the Panda Express Service (between China and the Mediterranean) and the recently expanded Tiger Express Service (between Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka) will continue to operate according to their usual schedules.
Earlier this month, Shipping company, Interasia, signed a shipbuilding contract with Jiangsu YangZiJiang Shipbuilding Group (YZJ) for six new 2,900 TEUs container vessels, with an option for two additional vessels.