Uses Asia-Americas Trade Route to Deliver Units from South Korea
Multipurpose vessel operator AAL Shipping has deployed its 31,000-deadweight heavy-lift AAL Pusan to transport a set of complex industrial tower components from South Korea to a refinery project on the U.S. West Coast.
Singapore-headquartered AAL delivered the project cargo across the Pacific Ocean to the Port of Everett in Washington state via its Asia-US Trade Route.
The tower components, shipped on behalf of global logistics provider Geodis Freight Forwarding, were destined for the refinery’s vacuum distillation unit, with the largest piece measuring 50 meters and weighing more than 456 tonnes.
The operator had prepared 114 pages of method statements to comply with the engineering and operational demands of the job.
“The length of the cargo presented us with very tight clearance between the cranes, so meticulous modelling and simulations were undertaken to ensure the success of our lifting and stowage operations,” said Yahaya Sanusi, deputy head of AAL Transport Engineering.
“We also prepared extensive load-spreading modelling, and FE-Analysis of deck structures used to ensure integrity and safety throughout.”
Strict Covid-19 rules at multiple ports of call hampered the move, necessitating constant communication between AAL’s engineers in Singapore, control room technicians in Cyprus and the AAL Pusan’s master and crew, the operator said.
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