AAL Orders Two More Super B-Class Ships

AAL Shipping has added an additional two ships to its order of six 32,000dwt heavy lift Super B-Class vessels.

The order was signed by AAL and Schoeller Holdings’ Founder & Chairman, Heinrich Schoeller, at the recent naming ceremony of AAL Limassol at the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Company in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

The two additional vessels, to be named the AAL Newcastle and AAL Mumbai will each feature an increased maximum heavy lift capability of 800 tonnes, compared to the rest of the Super B-Class fleet which can each lift a maximum 700 tonnes.

These vessels will bring AAL’s total fleet tonnage to 831,800dwt.

Kyriacos Panayides, CEO of AAL, commented, “AAL’s new order of an additional two Super B-Class powerhouses brings our newbuilding fleet up to eight vessels and 256,000dwt. This is a strategic move to strengthen our global industrial projects foothold and boost our capacity and service levels on major shipping lanes connecting Oceania, Asia, Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.”

Christophe Grammare, Managing Director of AAL, explained, “The maiden voyage of the first of AAL’s Super B-Class fleet, the AAL Limassol, has already broken all voyage performance records for AAL, with over 77,000 freight tonnes of cargo booked onto her planned journey from Asia to Europe. A broad mix of project heavy lift and general cargo includes two 135-metre-long barges - 1,650 and 1,425 tonnes respectively - fifteen 80.5-metre-long wind blades, modules, trucks, transformers, a dismantled crane and much more besides. This demonstrates the objective of achieving greater economies of scale for our shippers as compared to most other MPVs.”

He added, “Looking into the future, the trend in industrial project cargo is towards fabricating larger and more complex components, and we need to be ahead of that curve. The combination of these new ships’ unique design, cargo handling technologies and heavy lift capabilities – which on the two additional vessels has increased to 800 tonnes maximum lift – allows them to also accommodate the far bigger and heavier cargoes of tomorrow, ones that until now may have been out of our reach.”

At the same press conference AAL also launched a major fundraising drive to raise vital funds for The Michael J Fox Foundation, which supports global medical research for Parkinson’s disease treatment.

Dubbed the ‘AAL Back to the Future Appeal’, the initiative kicks off on AAL’s stand at Breakbulk Europe 2024, which runs from May 21-23 in Rotterdam, where delegates will be able to donate to the Foundation and also interact with a full-sized official replica of the world-famous DeLorean ‘time machine’, which featured in the 1985 hit movie ‘Back to the Future’ and its sequels, and featured Michael J. Fox in the starring role – a Hollywood icon who himself is suffering from the debilitating disease.

Parkinson’s disease affects more than 6 million people globally.