China–Cuxhaven
‘Super-B-class’ vessels break records. AAL Shipping, founded in the Netherlands 29 years ago and based in Singapore since 2009, recently broke records with the maiden voyage of the AAL Limassol from Asia to Europe. AAL Shipping’s new generation of ships creates trust.
After the official naming ceremony at the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong shipyard in Guangzhou at the end of April, the AAL Limassol left said Chinese port with a number of heavylift and project cargo consignments on board (see also page 18 of our Breakbulk/Heavylift Special in ITJ 19-22 / 2024).
With a dismantled crane on board, as well as transformers, trucks, various modules, rotor houses and two barges the ship arrived in Tuticorin in southern India.
A further 15 onshore wind turbines, each weighing no less than 30.6 t, were loaded on board here. The vessel left its last port of call in Asia with 89,000 t of cargo on board. This large load was manageable thanks to AAL’s so-called ‘Eco-Deck’. This mechanism allows the deck of the ship to be extended to more than 5,000 m2 in clear weather.
This allowed the 80.5 m long wind blades to be accommodated on the deck, on which other shipments had already been loaded. The ship’s own heavy-duty cranes then helped to position them. With this equipment, the AAL Limassol stands out from A-class ships, which can transport a maximum of 64,000 t of freight.
Valentin Gherciu, AAL Shipping’s head of operations, told the media that, “because our ‘Super-B-class’ ships have no line of sight restrictions, they can handle more cargo than our A-class ships, whose carrying capacity and lower deck volumes are otherwise actually similar.”
More ’Super-B-class’ ships to follow
The ship circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and thence sailed through the English Channel, then the Skagerrak and the Kattegat to its first European port of call in Klaipeda.
The wind turbine blades on board were unloaded in the key Lithuanian gateway before the ship proceeded to Rotterdam, Antwerp and Cuxhaven.
AAL Shipping is set to build on the success of this maiden voyage and further expand its fleet of ‘Super-B-class’ ships. The AAL Hamburg has already entered service, and the AAL Houston will follow soon, as will five more such vessels.