Further details of Lidl’s new shipping line have emerged. Splash reported earlier this month how the giant European budget supermarket chain had registered a container shipping company, Tailwind Shipping Lines.
Alphaliner reports that Tailwind has chartered three ships and bought another one. The three taken on charter are the 4,957 teu sisters Wiking and Jadrana from Reederei Tamke and Peter Doehle, respectively, as well as the 3,868 teu, Vinnen-controlled Merkur Ocean. Tailwind is also tipped to have bought the 5,527 teu Talassa from Peter Doehle. Alphaliner suggested the ships would likely be deployed on routes from Asia to Europe.
from Peter Doehle. Alphaliner suggested the ships would likely be deployed on routes from Asia to Europe.Brokers Braemar ACM reported that Tailwind is now building a dedicated Asia – Europe service while analysts at Linerlytica report that Lidl has been operating a China-Mediterranean service since December last year using a sub-1,000 teu ship. The service is operated independently by Lidl and does not involve the participation of an ocean carrier.
“The goal is to be able to manage the increased volume of different production facilities more flexibly in the long term,” Wolf Tiedemann, who heads up logistics operations for the German retailer, told German logistics title VerkehrsRundschau earlier this month.
Lidl operates around 11,200 stores and is active in 32 countries, recently entering the US market.
During the global supply chain crunch experienced during the pandemic a host of well known retail names including Ikea, Walmart and Home Depot opted to charter in their own ships.
Chinese furniture manufacturer Loctek Ergonomic went a step further this January, ordering a 1,800 teu boxship newbuild from Huanghai Shipbuilding for a swift delivery in the first quarter of next year.
