Ocean Carrier Deploys S-Class Vessels to Ship from Shanghai to Mackay
AAL Shipping has delivered a series of project cargo shipments from China to Australia for a major brownfields coal project in central Queensland.
The Singapore-headquartered carrier deployed several of its 19,000-deadweight tonnage, or DWT, S-class fleet of heavy-lift vessels, commissioned by logistics provider Geodis Australia, to ship berth components of various sizes from Shanghai to Mackay.
The components are being used as part of a project to strip and replace one of the existing shiploaders and berths at the Hay Point Coal Terminal, some 38 kilometres south of Mackay. The project is designed to improve cyclonic wave immunity to terminal operations, AAL said.
The first shipment of cargo comprised temporary steelworks including walkways, platforms, huts and piles measuring up to 53 metres in length to facilitate the installation of new berth modules.
The second, fourth and fifth shipments transported components in support of preparatory works including modification of existing concrete caisson berth foundations, while the third shipment to Henderson in western Australia comprised 86 frames and walkways and enabled the off-site fabrication of new berth topside modules including decking, ship loader rail beams, conveyor galleries and sections, and the new shiploader.
According to Nicola Pacifico, global head of engineering at AAL, the components were loaded in Shanghai from barge, truck and wharf and stacked and secured on deck into tiers of three and four units high to ensure as much cargo as possible could be safely stowed on each sailing.
“Local Covid restrictions in China meant that our cargo superintendent could not physically attend loading – instead we monitored activity via live video feed and online comms with our master and crew,” Pacifico said.
“Before the pandemic, remote supervision of such operations was rare. Today, it is a fact of life, and all our teams have been extensively cross-trained to execute work under these forced conditions.”
AAL owns a fleet of 24 vessels of various classes with a combined total of 688,200 DWT. The carrier has been operating its Asia-Australia trade lane for more than 26 years.
AAL Shipping will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Americas 2022, taking place on 27-29 September at the George R. Brown Convention Centre in Houston. You can meet the team in Hall A&B, Stand G41 (Marine Transport).
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