Lidl’s great barge charge

German retailer Lidl’s in-house shipping and logistics arm, Tailwind Shipping, has joined a consortium of European shipping firms to launch a twice-weekly barge service from the Dutch port of Moerdijk to the inland German hub of Duisburg.  

It will join intra-Europe container carrier WEC Lines, European door-to-door multimodal operator A2B-online, and Dutch barge operator Danser, which will run the service using its barge, Tranquilo.  

The move will strengthen Moerdijk’s position as a European shortsea hub and as a gateway for Lidl’s imports into Germany, as well as third-party shippers’ cargo now also carried by Tailwind. Its Asia-Europe service has two European calls – Barcelona and Koper.  

The Slovenian port connects into central and northern Europe through rail links, while Tailwind runs a two-vessel feeder service from Barcelona to Moerdijk.  

Brian Vaz, Intermodal Analyst & Projects, WEC Lines, said: “With this new barge service, we offer a competitive alternative to road transport for our clients in the Ruhr area into southern Europe and vice versa.  

“This supports our commitment to respond to market demand while ensuring a timely, secure and eco-friendly delivery.”  

Logistics UK's Senior Policy Manager, Alexandra Herdman added: “This is another fantastic example of utilising waterways for moving freight. A key benefit of inland waterways is the ability to deliver goods into the heart of a city and with assured reliability.  

"Moving goods by barge uses only 17% of the energy required to move goods by road, and 50% of the energy required to move goods by rail.  

"It is not only inherently low carbon, but by using alternative modes, operators can reduce the burden on busy corridors and build resilience into the supply chain.  

"Logistics UK has been calling on the UK government to set a water freight growth target, as it has done for rail, to give the sector the confidence it needs to invest in decarbonisation and facilities to futureproof domestic water freight."