Chartering Solutions News

AAL Shipping has acquired two secondhand multipurpose heavy lift vessels, expanding its core fleet to 720,200 total deadweight (DWT).The 2010-built Pacific Action and 2009-built AAL Gladstone have both served in the AAL fleet in the past and are due to rejoin later this month – the former renamed this week, AAL Gibraltar. The G-Class vessels feature a total cargo intake of 35,705 cubic meters, four large cargo holds, three tweendecks and a maximum lift capacity of 240 tonnes.

The  global ocean transport operator AAL Shipping has launched a new Europe-Middle East/India-Asia Monthly Liner Service to serve the market’s multipurpose vessels (MPPs) and project heavy lift cargo transport requirements.The new service, which connects main ports between Europe, Middle East/India and Asia, harnesses AAL’s second generation 31,000-dwt mega-size A-Class fleet, renowned for its 40,000-cu m cargo intake capacity 700-tonne lift ability.The new liner service will follow a fixed route, with port call flexibility. Base ports will include Antwerp, Porto Marghera, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Masan.

AAL & PD have followed up their cooperation on a range of global multipurpose tramp solutions with the launch a new joint semi-liner service - ‘Asia - Middle East - Europe’. The route will connect mature and developing markets with regular fixed route sailings, flexible port calls and multiple classes of modern heavy lift MPP vessels and represents a highly competitive solution for the transport of project, breakbulk, container and dry-bulk cargo – big and small. This launch marks further expansion of AAL’s Tramp & Projects Division and a step forward in its cooperation with Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG (Peter Döhle). The joint semi-liner service will offer best-in-class multipurpose heavy lift tonnage and a full-service of chartering, engineering and operations.

reason that maritime - as usual - will be slow to catch the wave. A frantic dash to set up tanker trading and information websites is being touted as the end of the traditional shipping marketplace, but insiders say there will be no overnight revolution. Two oil majors last week joined forces with the biggest shipbroker and leading agribusiness trading house to set up an online shipping exchange which aimed to transform the $100 billion market in moving bulk commodities by sea. Other shipbrokers are now rushing to update their websites and a rash of dot.com shipping information ventures are also in the pipeline. But many in the industry say it is unlikely the web revolution will undermine the secretive tanker broking trade.