AAL Wraps Up Wambo Wind Farm Deliveries

By Simon West

AAL Shipping has completed its final delivery to the 500-MW Wambo Wind Farm in Queensland, Australia, rounding off a two-year logistics campaign involving 18 sailings and nine different multipurpose heavy-lift vessels.

The carrier transported all 83 wind turbines required for the project, located near the town of Jandowae, using vessels from its 31,000-dwt A-Class, 25,800-dwt G-Class and 19,000-dwt S-Class fleets. Shipments were staged between 2023 and 2025, with the final sailing completed this month by the AAL Genoa, delivering the last 41 turbines.

The Wambo Wind Farm is a 50:50 JV between green energy investor Cubico Sustainable Investments and Queensland government-owned energy provider Stanwell.

“Around 312,000 homes will now be powered by clean energy sources as a direct result of the team’s hard work on this long-term project,” said Frank Mueller, general manager Oceania at AAL Shipping. “Australia has the potential to generate 82 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, and I am proud of our work to support the transition and strengthen Australia’s energy security.”

Each wind turbine shipped by AAL comprised towers split into eight sections weighing up to 90 tons apiece, blades more than 80 meters long, and other units weighing as much as 76 tons each. The cargo was loaded across multiple Chinese ports including Dongzao, Lüsi, Tianjin and Taicang, and discharged in Brisbane.

Andrew Mangan, chartering manager at AAL Oceania, highlighted the expertise of the carrier’s engineering and operations teams in handling complex cargoes and their ability to develop innovative solutions to optimize handling methods.

“For the wind blade shipments, we employed revolutionary synthetic lashing chains and slings for the first time. Traditional steel chains can swing during lashing and pose a risk of damage to cargo. In contrast, synthetic lashings significantly reduce that risk,” Mangan said.

“They’re also much lighter, improving both the safety and timing efficiency of our lashing operations – especially when gangs are working at heights of over nine meters to secure the uppermost blade tiers.”

AAL Shipping will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Americas 2025.

TOP PHOTO: A-Class AAL Hong Kong discharges blades in Brisbane.
SECOND: G-Class AAL Genoa offloads components in Brisbane.