AAL Shipping (AAL) has today announced it is taking delivery of two additional ‘G-Class’ multipurpose heavy lift vessels, AAL Gibraltar and AAL Gladstone.
They have both served in the AAL fleet in the past and will re-join later this month and will expand AAL’s core fleet to 720,200 total deadweight (DWT).
These relatively young vessels feature a total cargo intake of 35,705 cubic meters, four large cargo holds, three tweendecks and a maximum lift capacity of 240 tonnes – ideal for trading all manner of project heavy lift, breakbulk, steel and dry bulk commodities.
They join two sister vessels, AAL Genoa and Pacific Alert (TBN AAL Galveston) and will operate worldwide in support of AAL’s monthly liner services, regular trade routes and tailormade tramp chartering solutions.
Kyriacos Panayides, Managing Director of AAL, commented; “We are delighted to have secured these vessels. Large heavy-lift multipurpose ships of this calibre and lifting capability represent a small fraction of the global MPP fleet and AAL is uniquely well experienced in optimising their operations and harnessing their strengths in order to generate value for our customers’ global trading demands.”
Marc Willim, General Manager of AAL’s Chartering Team, added; “The G-Class are large 25,800 DWT MPVs, that complement our fleet profile. Global trading is only now emerging from the negative impact of COVID and also important multipurpose cargo sectors like oil and gas are still pressured. However, there is growing optimism and the recent surges in the container and commodity markets have demonstrated the importance of being flexible and ready to serve cargo demand and from wherever it may come.“
