AAL, one of the world’s leading multipurpose operators, has successfully completed the shipment of 13 enormous haulage trucks (170mt each) from Laem Chabang Port in Thailand to the Port of Nakhodka in southeast Russia. The shipment was booked by AAL’s Brisbane office and operated by AAL’s Tramp & Projects team – a growing service established by the operator in 2011 to provide tailor-made and competitive shipping solutions to major industry projects around the world. These Komatsu 830E ultra-class haul truck units - each over 14m in length, weighing 170mt and featuring an immense 2,360hp+ diesel powertrain - were transported on the 19,000dwt S-Class AAL Dampier, on behalf of 2016’s ‘International Freight Forwarder of the Year’, Freightplus. The trucks will be employed at a major Siberian mining project and are especially designed for off-road use in high-production mining and heavy-duty construction environments.
Namir Khanbabi, Managing Director of AAL’s Tramp & Projects Division, commented: “We were delighted to partner with such a renowned freight forwarder as Freightplus and to have successfully completed the delivery of this important cargo ahead of schedule. The crane capacity of our S-Class fleet came into its own, giving Freightplus the assurance that each 170mt truck could be lifted, stowed and discharged at Nakhodka terminal without any reach issues. There was great communication between our two teams throughout the operation, supported by the expertise and diligence of the ship’s crew and the technical knowledge of our in-house engineering experts, drawing on their experience of working on over-sized and specialist cargo shipments for the mining sector.” John Gleeson, CEO at Freightplus, added, ‘We came to AAL Shipping with very specific needs, in relation to stowage, crane capacity and reach, vessel length and draft, deck strength, schedule and budget and they tailored a solution for us that ticked every box. Being a regular user of AAL’s services in the Asia-Pacific region, we knew its very competent and dedicated team could be trusted to deliver as promised and that’s exactly what they did. They performed like a well-oiled machine and exceeded our expectations in every respect.” AAL has the sector’s youngest fleet of new generation and technologically advanced multipurpose heavy lift vessels. The AAL Dampier is part of AAL’s owned 19,000dwt ‘S-Class’ fleet, with each vessel featuring a combined lifting capacity of 700mt. These highly versatile vessels are designed to load and transport all manner of industrial and commercial heavy-lift and dry bulk cargo to and from the busiest, or most remote, ports around the world.