AAL Shipping increases Super B-Class vessel order

Singapore-based shipowner and operator, AAL Shipping, has ordered two more of its 32,000dwt Super B-Class heavy-lift multi-purpose vessels (MPVs) at China’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard, taking the total order to six ships.

The company released details of the Super B-Class design, developed in collaboration with Columbia Shipmanagement, when it ordered the first four vessels last November. The ships are highly adaptable units capable of carrying more than 60,000 revenue tonnes of cargo of all shapes and sizes, AAL said.

Clear weatherdeck space of 146m by 26m can be expanded by extendable pontoons that also enable outsize cargoes to overhang the deck safely, when necessary. The 180m-long ships can sail with open hatches and, with a relatively shallow minimum draught of 6.5m, they will be able to call at a wide range of secondary and project-related ports and terminals.

AAL’s deputy head of Transport Engineering, Yahaya Sannusi, is a naval architect closely involved in the ships’ design development. “Three heavy lift cranes positioned along the vessels’ port side will feature 350-tonne lift each and combinable up to 700 tonnes maximum,” he explained.

“Tandem lifting can be done in combination with both crane numbers 1 and 2, and crane numbers 2 and 3. This enables cargo loading at both the fore and aft of the vessel  ...  The cranes are also designed with a wider outreach of 35.7m at higher lifting capacity and render far more flexibility and options when loading large and/or heavy units.”

Nicola Pacifico, global head of the Transport Engineering department, commented: “These vessels were designed to be the most efficient and competent MPVs in the water. They will perfectly complement AAL’s fleet and service profile and, in their design, we harnessed all of our engineering team’s expertise in handling heavy lift, breakbulk and dry bulk cargo since 1995.”