Mr Schmidl has 25 years’ experience in logistics at firms like Agility, Kuehne + Nagel, DB Schenker and CSAV Norasia, based in Europe and North America.

He said: “The market presents many challenges these days, but we also see many opportunities a focused and agile shipping line cantake advantage of. I am confident that the team and I will be able to continue our expansion and offer a wide range of services to our customers.”

Founded in 2017, Sea-Lead operates a fleet of 25 ships, ranging in size from 177 teu to 6,900 teu, on services from Asia to the US, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

It is a comparatively new operator in the container shipping market, but has grown from a slot charterer to vessel operator within five years and expects to grow further, having recently added the Australia trades to its service list.