AAL’s first Super-B ship arrives in Europe

The AAL Limassol, the first of eight Super B-class project cargo vessels, being built for AAL Shipping at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, China, has completed its maiden voyage.

The Singapore-based heavy-lift company’s 32,000dwt vessel left China laden with transformers, modules, trucks, rotor houses, a dismantled crane, and two 135m-long barges, before calling at Tuticorin in India to pick up 15 wind turbine blades.

According to AAL, the vessel carried more than 89,000 freight tons on the voyage round the Cape of Good Hope to Europe. The AAL Limassol called first at the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda to discharge the turbine blades before proceeding to Rotterdam, Antwerp and Cuxhaven to discharge other cargo consignments.

Carriage of the 80.5m-long turbine blades was made possible by the ship’s AAL Eco-Deck, a deck extension system that increases the weather deck space to more than 5,000m². The blades were loaded with the ship’s cranes that are capable of lifting a combined 700 tonnes.

The company’s managing director, Christophe Grammare, described the voyage as a highlight of the year. “We were confident about the design of the Super B-Class and its capability and cargo intake,” he said. “The completion of the first maiden voyage of these third generation newbuildings demonstrates that that confidence was well-placed.

“The Super B-Class vessels are everything we have been hoping for and more. The AAL Hamburg is now also in service, and the AAL Houston will shortly follow – with another five of these vessels to also join the roster – further reinforcing our fleet of highly capable multipurpose heavy-lift tonnage,” he added.