AAL Shipping Reports Record US Presence

Breakbulk shipping line AAL has reported a record nine vessels heading to the U.S., in response to breakbulk demand.

The firm is refocusing efforts on the Asia-North America trade lane as it aims to ramp up focus and tonnage allocation to this trade lane.

“There has been a significant portion of cargo on these vessels representing the energy sector: wind, power generation and LNG components. We have also been carrying a fair bit of steel products, where we are gaining market share," said Michael Morland, general manager Americas at AAL Shipping.

Covid-19

As Covid-19 causing havoc on all global trade the firm nonetheless sees opportunity to gain market share on a few trade lanes, with its EMEIA service between Europe-Middle East-India-Asia also gaining momentum.

“With lower cargo volumes now than before on a macro scale, we are very happy to receive support from new and existing customers on both these and other trade lanes,” Morland said.

AAL is a member of Cypriot investment group Schoeller Holdings and operates a specialist multipurpose fleet with heavy-lift capabilities of up to 700 tonnes.

‘All Bets Are Off’

Despite the positive outlook for these trade lanes, AAL predicts further volatility for the breakbulk sector, with Morland stating that “all bets are off on future outlook,” but noting that “in the breakbulk and projects industry there is a significant time lag between final investment decision and actual cargo flow. That means there are still projects in the pipeline that will need to be delivered to sites worldwide.”

AAL foresees continued activity from wind energy parks and LNG facilities infrastructure with a relatively healthy backlog in these segments up to 2023-24

“As an industry it would be helpful if these were joined by Oil and Gas and other segments / investments soon. However, with oil prices being at historic low levels, there might not be a whole lot of investment appetite just yet.
 

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