German Container Carrier Tailwind Makes Northport its Intra-Asia Regional Hub

Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook (seventh from left), Germany’s deputy head of mission to Malaysia Ulrike Wolf (fifth from left), MMC Ports CEO Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof (sixth from left), Tailwind Shipping Lines GmbH & Co KG CEO Christian Stangl (seventh from right), Ministry of Transport secretary general of Datuk Seri Jana Santhiran Muniayan (sixth from right), Port Klang Authority general manager Capt K Subramaniam (fifth from right) and Northport (Malaysia) Bhd acting CEO Nik Muzani Nik Abdul Aziz (fourth from left) during the official launch of Tailwind’s intra-Asia regional hub at Northport, Port Klang on Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10): MMC Port Holdings’ subsidiary, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, has been chosen by Tailwind Shipping Lines as its intra-Asia regional hub. Tailwind, a German container carrier started by retailer Lidl in 2022, uses Northport as its main hub for its Panda Express Service (linking China and Europe) and Tiger Express Service (connecting Malaysia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka).

Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook, who attended the launch, said in a statement this shows strong confidence in Malaysia’s ports, infrastructure, and logistics. He added that the government is committed to improving port efficiency, digitalisation, and sustainability to make Malaysia a top maritime hub.

Tailwind operates 11 ships across three main routes:

• Panda Express Service: China to the Mediterranean, stopping at Northport
• Tiger Express Service: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka
• Dolphin Express Service: Spain to the Netherlands, with stops in Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and Morocco

MMC Port is Malaysia’s largest port operator, running five ports, and plans to go public on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market.—The Edge