Hamburg, 18 September 2025 

 

Mid-October, TAILWIND Shipping Lines’ existing Dolphin Express Service (DEX) will operate as an intra-European short-sea service with additional port calls. 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. The 21-day rotation will operate weekly from the north, with TAILWIND heading directly to Moerdijk on the return voyage from Barcelona, as before.

 

Ships already part of the TAILWIND fleet

Three 1,380 TEU container ships, which are already part of the TAILWIND fleet, will be

deployed 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.

 

Streamlined management of European freight flows

TAILWIND is adopting the new route to manage European cargo flows with even greater precision and consolidate freight volumes by sea. Nico Peters, VP Commercial Management at TAILWIND Shipping Lines, explains: “Thanks to the higher cargo capacity of modern container ships, CO₂ emissions per container are reduced compared to pure road transport by 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.

 

Moerdijk: connections to the hinterland

In addition, Moerdijk provides connections to the hinterland. From there, – in partnership

with WEC Lines, A2B and the Danser Group – offers a barge connection to Duisburg 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 the 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.

 

Press contact:

Corporate Communications International Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG

Email: tailwind@schellenberg-kirchberg-pr.de / press@lidl.com

 

Last updated: Sep 25, 2026