AAL has recently transported eight giant juice tanks safely on a single sailing from Taicang Port in China to Setúbal in Portugal, 50 kilometres south of Lisbon.  Carried on its 31,000 deadweight mega-size A-Class heavy lift vessel, AAL Kobe, and along its popular ‘Asia – Europe’ Trade Route, the cargo will be used in a vessel conversion at the Lisnave Shipyard.

The tanks were stowed on deck and extensive operational planning was required to address multiple operational challenges in the lifting and transport of these over-dimensional 150 tonne units, which each measured 12 metres x 12 metres x 16.5 metres and posed visibility restrictions on their journey. They were safely discharged at the Portuguese shipyard, where they will be installed into a bulk carrier, transforming the vessel into a fruit juice tanker.

Yahaya Sanusi, Deputy Head of Transport Engineering at AAL, commented, “We initially had to ensure that a specially designed lifting beam could in fact be aligned, connected, and lifted without mechanical support from the weather deck of the AAL Kobe to the tanks’ trunnions located at 12 metres’ height. Thanks to both the vessel’s outstanding crane height and tailormade lifting beam, we were able to stow the units successfully on deck.

“The goalposts then changed midway through the project, when our initial discharge to quayside plan was replaced by a more ambitious proposal, involving the discharge of the heavy lift units directly to the soon-to-be-converted bulk carrier. After extensive modelling and risk assessment by our engineering team, the original plan was reinstated. We also had to overcome a very shallow vessel draft and other operational restrictions at port of discharge using extensive modelling, bathymetric surveys, and tides, mooring, and risk analyses. This provided the data and operational transparency required for AAL to handle the tanks safely using only the ship cranes. All plans were carefully screened and approved by not only the local port authority, but also insurers and other project stakeholders.”

Christophe Grammare, AAL’s Managing Director, concluded, ‘With almost 95 percent of AAL’s fleet now owned and controlled by us, we can ensure that busy trade lanes – especially those that connect Asia, with key trading markets in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia – are served with the required frequency of sailings all year round. Additionally, we have boosted our engineering and operations capability across all key markets and time zones, and that is well demonstrated on this particular project, when rapidly changing operational criteria and local restrictions needed to be addressed at a local level and smartly.”

In advance of the launch next year of the first of AAL Shipping’s (AAL) mega size 32,000 deadweight (DWT) Super B-Class heavy lift vessels, the ‘AAL LIMASSOL’, the global carrier has released a short film highlighting the design and technical innovations and specifications that will make this highly anticipated third generation MPV fleet the most advanced in the multipurpose cargo sector.

ABOUT THE SUPER B-CLASS

The Super B-Class design was a collaboration between AAL’s engineering and commercial teams and sister company, Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM). These vessels were designed to be the most efficient and competent MPVs in the water and harness all of our engineering team’s expertise in handling heavy lift, breakbulk and dry bulk cargo since 1995.

Each Super B-Class vessel can safely accommodate over 42,000 CBM of cargo big and small on a single sailing. The significant clear weather deck space of 146 x 26 metres will feature a unique retractable deck extension system – the ‘AAL ECO-DECK’ and designed by AAL’s engineering team – that can increase stowage space even further.

With the bridge and accommodation block positioned forward, crews will have unobscured sailing visibility and no physical restriction on cargo height. The vessels can also sail with open hatch covers, enabling extremely tall and over-dimensional units to be stowed safely in hold space. And, despite significant cargo intake volume and 180m in length, the hull design of the Super B-Class will deliver a 6.5 metre minimum draft, allowing AAL to call far smaller and more remote ports – perfect for employment on dedicated large projects.

Three heavy lift cranes positioned along the vessels’ port side will feature 350t lift each and combinable up to 700t max. Tandem lifting can be done with both cranes number 1 and 2, and also number 2 and 3.  This enables cargo loading at both the fore and aft of the vessel – optimising deck space and capacity.  The cranes also feature an outreach of 35.7 metres at higher lifting capacity and render far more flexibility and options when loading large and / or heavy units.

Under deck there will be two box-shaped cargo holds, one 68 x 25 metres, and the other 38 x 25 metres and with a height of 15.6 metres. They also feature adjustable pontoon triple deck capabilities as required, to optimise cargo intake. With no centre line bulkhead, the holds are designed to perfectly accommodate dry bulk commodities and optimised for stowage of dangerous IMO cargoes.

Overall, the Super B-Class will meet the highest possible automation and emission standards, as well as complying with IMO regulations on emissions and sustainability for environmental protection. The vessels are dual fuel and methanol ready and run-on MAN main engines of 7,380 kW – supported by 2 x 1,700 kW and 1 x 1,065 kW auxiliary diesel generators. They are NOx Tier III compatible with HPSCR, EEDI phase 3 compliancy, featuring a projected service speed of 14.5 knots. They will also feature modern ballast water treatment systems and innovative hull coating that delivers greater fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.

Five of the Super B-Class will be named after major breakbulk ports: AAL Antwerp, AAL Hamburg, AAL Houston, AAL Dubai and AAL Dammam. The sixth vessel (and first of the new fleet to be launched in 2024) will proudly bear the name AAL Limassol, in tribute to the town where AAL’s story first began in 1995.

In 2023, AAL Shipping (AAL), a global leader in the multipurpose project heavy lift shipping sector, celebrates the 25th anniversary of the establishment of ‘AAL China’. As China continues to see economic growth through its re-emergence from pandemic lock-down and its dual circulation policy, AAL remains committed to serving the Chinese market and multipurpose cargo stakeholders.

The carrier’s 25 years of own operations in China have seen it establish offices and teams of shipping professionals in Beijing and Qingdao, apart from its regional HQ in Shanghai. This development has coincided with the country’s economic rise. From the start of its period of reform and opening in 1978 until 2019, China saw an average annual growth of 9.5%, almost doubling the size of its economy every eight years and becoming the second-largest economy in the world in 2011.

Jack Zhou, General Manager of AAL China, Explained, ‘AAL started its shipping operations early 1995, providing a breakbulk, multipurpose liner service between South-East Asia and Papua New Guinea, Queensland and the Northern Territories of Australia. For over two decades, Shanghai has been our home port and number one for cargo calls – representing almost 18% of our export cargo volumes from China. Over the last decade alone, we have seen our Chinese export volumes grow by 240 percent and imports by 150 percent and in this period called Chinese ports close to 1,600 times.

‘In 1998, AAL opened its first representative office in Shanghai and we have never looked back – building a local service offering of scheduled monthly liner services and regular trade lanes that connect China with key trade partners across Asia, Middle East, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.’

Last year, China registered a trade surplus of US$877.6 billion, with a jump of 7% in exports and 1.1% in imports compared to 2021 and attests to its economic prominence on the world stage. During the recent pandemic, the Chinese government further proposed an economic policy of ‘dual circulation’. This strategy supports trade growth by placing equal emphasis on expanding exports (external circulation) and increased domestic demand, which will be driven primarily by rising consumption (internal circulation).

With the world economy so dependent upon geo-political stability, China faces challenges in depending solely on exports in 2023. As a result, the local government has emphasised the need to increase domestic demand, boost market confidence, shore up its export partner relationships and stabilise employment, growth, and prices.

Kyriacos Panayides, CEO of AAL added, ‘We are incredibly proud to be so well represented in China and our local team has done an outstanding job in understanding and addressing the ocean transport needs of our local customers and partners. As friend-shoring becomes a popular term among corporations in supply chain decision-making, AAL believes in maintaining a reliable local supply chain to serve the Chinese multipurpose and project heavy lift market while continuing to boost our seaborn trade volumes through the region.’

For 2023, institutional and market economists have varied forecasts for the size and timing of the Chinese economic rebound, but there is a very clear pattern of continuous growth. China recently set itself a 5% economic growth target for this year, close to the 5.2% predicted by Morgan Stanley, 5.2% by PwC, 4.9% by Bloomberg, 4.9% by JP Morgan and 4.5% by the IMF. The region’s trade surplus also grew to US$877.6 billion in 2022, with an increase in both exports and imports.

Panayides concluded, ‘With decades of strong investment, China has transformed into a supply chain behemoth, and has so much to offer the global multipurpose cargo sector and the dynamic industries it supports and we will continue to work closely with our local stakeholders to build our services and provide solutions for them. As AAL Shipping moves forward, it remains committed to serving the market and is optimistic about China’s economic prospects.

Today at the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou China, a traditional steel cutting ceremony took place for the first of AAL’s SIX new Super B-Class 32K DWT heavy lift MPVs, the ‘AAL Limassol’ – expected in the water 2024.

Representing AAL was our General Manager of AAL China, Jack Zhou and representing sister company, Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM), was Project Manager Rangel Vassilev. 

Our new Super B-Class heavy-lift fleet was designed by AAL’s own engineers in collaboration with sister company Columbia Shipmanagement and harnesses our vast experience in handling project heavy lift, breakbulk and dry bulk commodities around the world since 1995. These ‘mega-size’ vessels are 32,000 deadweight tonnes and measure 179.9 meters in overall length, with a beam of 30 meters. They have a depth of 15.5 meters and feature a low ballast draft of 6.5 meters. Each can carry up to 80,000 freight-tonnes of breakbulk cargo.

The weather deck provides 4,500 square meters of clear cargo loading space, with extendable pontoons available on the starboard side. Three port-mounted heavy lift cranes each support 350 tonnes, with tandem lifting of cranes 1 & 2 and 2 & 3 providing a 700-tonne maximum lift and an outreach of 35.7 meters. This allows to spread cargo loading to the fore and aft of the vessel, optimising stowage space and time. 

The forward-positioned bridge and accommodation block delivers unobscured sailing visibility, with no physical restriction on cargo height. Under deck, two large bulk-friendly cargo holds, with tripe-deck facility, measure 68 x 25 and 38 x 25 meters, with a height of 15.6 meters. And – whilst sailing with hatch covers open – can offer extremely tall cargoes safe accommodation.

The Super B-Class vessels are dual fuel compatible – equipped with 7,380-kilowatt main engines and two 1,600 and one 900-kilowatt auxiliary diesel generators. With new ballast water treatment and hull coating technologies, these vessels minimise CO2 emissions and meet all forthcoming IMO regulations.

AAL Shipping (AAL) successfully collaborated on the disassembly of Berth 2 at Hay Point Coal Terminal in Queensland and its subsequent shipment to Henderson, Western Australia for disposal. Comprising seven packages with a total weight of 1,412MT / 8,929CBM, the cargo was moved in a single sailing onboard the 19,000 deadweight S-Class 700 tonne max heavy lift vessel, the AAL Fremantle, for global logistics provider, Geodis Australia.

Nicola Pacifico, Head of Transport Engineering at AAL explained, ‘All aspects of the loading operation were extensively evaluated and planned – starting with the mooring of the AAL Fremantle to the old Berth itself where she was heavily exposed to wind, waves, current, tide and vessel motion. These conditions needed to be factored into the lifting methodology along with load spreading and cargo sea fastening. Having multiple contractors and authorities working simultaneously required the development of complex risk assessments and mitigation, emergency procedures and a coordination matrix to ensure that every stage was delivered to highest safety standards.’

‘Due to the complex nature of the lifting operation, we sent a Project Engineer and Cargo Superintendent from Singapore to oversee the loading and stowage operation – monitoring works throughout the unpredictable weather conditions we faced. The level of engineering and operational oversight that AAL provided was not only crucial to reducing risk, down-time, and operational costs, but provided our customer and stakeholders a high level of reassurance of a positive outcome – which we ultimately delivered.’

Ben Williams, Project Manager of Project Logistics at Geodis Australia, added, ‘This was a complex and demanding project shipment and required a huge effort from Geodis and AAL’s team, collaborating to execute safely and efficiently. Transporting heavy lift berth and shiploader components from Hay Point to Henderson required regular pre-planning meetings – not to mention constant onsite dialogue with AAL representatives who travelled from Singapore to oversee works. It was the first time that a heavy lift vessel had performed such an operation there and AAL’s solution was executed flawlessly.’