Specialist heavy lift project carrier, AAL Shipping (AAL) has bought two 33,000 deadweight heavy lift ships and has given an update on its newbuilding plans.
The two newly-bought vessels are, the ‘AAL Mars’ and the ‘AAL Merkur’. The vessels have been serving within AAL’s operating fleet worldwide on a commercial management basis.
AAL has also given an update on the progress of its ‘third-generation’ multipurpose ship building programme, which will add a minimum of four heavy lift multi-purpose vessels to its fleet. Described by the company as “premium heavy lift carriers”, they will feature innovative design, heavy lifting gear, optimised multi-purpose cargo intake, and handling capability. They will each be 32,000 deadweight, equipped with three heavy lift cranes (350 tonnes each with a 700 tonne maximum lift) and will fully compliant with forthcoming IMO CO2 emissions regulations.
Kyriacos Panayides, Managing Director of AAL, explained, “we have been planning our third generation building programme for several years now, patiently waiting until such time that market forecasts and projected cargo demand within key customer verticals proved sustainable for this kind of investment. AAL drew upon 26 years of multipurpose heavy lift operational experience to design innovative vessels that would not only accommodate all today’s multipurpose cargo types, but also handle the growing size of project cargo components being planned for key industry verticals like wind. The newbuilds will be deployed in support of our customers’ large-scale global projects both on our regular monthly trade routes between the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia and our bespoke tramp solutions worldwide.”
He added: “In 2021, the MPP shipping sector has experienced phenomenal growth, despite still operating in the throes of the global COVID-19 pandemic and severe port congestion. As a project heavy lift cargo specialist, AAL continues to prioritise breakbulk and project cargoes and servicing the needs of our traditional and long-term customers. This fleet development strategy not only builds our capacity on core trade routes between the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Oceania in support of these customers, but also gives AAL greater decision-making control of our fleet going forward.”
Along with four other acquisitions made by AAL over the past eight months – comprising two ships of 25,800 deadweight each and two vessels of 33,000 deadweight each – these vessels have helped to grow AAL’s owned fleet to 569,600 deadweight and render the carrier control of 80% of its current 711,200 deadweight operating fleet.
