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AAL TRANSPORTS 22,400CBM FOR ELIWANA MINE & RAIL PROJECT

Global project heavy lift carrier AAL Shipping (AAL) recently delivered 22,400cbm of stacker reclaimer components from Dalian in North East China to Port Hedland in Western Australia. The cargo, destined for the Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana Mine and Rail Project in the Pilbara, was loaded on the 19,000dwt heavy lift mpv, AAL Fremantle (S-Class). Months of meticulous engineering planning were made significantly more difficult due to newly implemented COVID-19 restrictions in Dalian. Despite these challenges, the cargo was loaded safely, and schedule integrity maintained. 

The stacker reclaimer components were shipped on behalf of one of the world’s leading project logistics providers, Schenker Australia Pty Ltd. The cargo comprised of multiple components of which the heaviest was just over 230t and, the longest, 40m in length.  Tandem lifting was required using the vessel’s port side heavy lift cranes (700t max lift) and the operation proved challenging. 

Nicola Pacifico, Head of AAL Transport Engineering explained, ‘When handling heavy lift and over dimensional project cargo, considerations of weight distribution, lift height restrictions, maximum outreach and of course time and safety are significant.

‘Project requirements were also exacting, and we prepared extensive engineering modelling and feasibility scenarios to illustrate the safety of our transport solution, its response to potential weather fronts during typhoon season and to comply with additional requests submitted by Marine Warranty Surveyors. Ultimately, we met all required standards and made full use of the AAL Fremantle’s 1,600sqm weather deck and the 53m length of her hold number 3 to safely stow and secure every piece of our customer’s 22,400cbm cargo for its onward 3,700nm journey to Port Hedland.’

He added, ‘At 19,000dwt, the S-Class is one of AAL’s smallest fleet classes.  Designed and built by AAL to service the demands of the heavy lift project cargo market, its optimised and flexible cargo intake capacity have made the S-Class extremely popular.’

Located in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia, construction began on the Eliwana project in July 2019. The iron ore mining project includes 143km of rail track and a dry ore processing facility (OPF) capable of outputting 30 million tonnes per annum. The project will create up to 1,900 jobs during ongoing construction and 500 full-time site positions once fully operational.

Bernd Schuler, Commercial Manager Australia for DB Schenker Global Projects & Industry Solutions, concluded, ‘We look forward to a successful and safe conclusion to this important project. DB Schenker is proud to design bespoke project cargo solutions for our most prestigious client Fortescue on their Eliwana project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.’

AAL WINS BEST PROJECT CARGO CARRIER 2020 AWARD!

At the 2020 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards in Hong Kong on Monday 9th November – an event attended by some of the biggest players in the Asian freight and logistics industry – AAL Shipping (AAL) took the evening’s top project heavy lift carrier award, ‘Best Shipping Line – Project Cargo’.  Given for outstanding service to the Asian Shipping Community, the award recognises the work done by AAL to provide reliable ocean transportation solutions within the region for the last 25 years and a significant milestone being celebrated by the carrier in 2020.

The awards hosted and organised annually by Asia Cargo News, recognise leading service providers including shipping and airlines; airports and seaports; and logistics; 3PLs and other associated industry professionals. The nomination and voting process invited more than 15,000 readers and e-news subscribers to first determine the leading companies in the market and then select their winners, making the results the exclusive opinion of actual service users.

Kyriacos Panayides, Managing Director of AAL, harnessed the win to praise the efforts of the AAL teams on land and sea during what has been one of the most challenging years for the multipurpose and project heavy lift sector, ‘We thank everyone who voted for AAL and the Organisers for putting on such a great awards ceremony. 2020 Has been a perfect storm of challenges for everyone involved in the shipping sector, with trade wars, oversupply, commodity price instability and, last but most challenging of all, the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Marrying the primary need to protect the health and safety of our teams worldwide with the commitment to keep our customers’ supply chains moving has been extremely tough. We thank our excellent team for their continued hard work and resolve. This award is testament to their high customer service ethics and is shared equally amongst them all.’