The 32,000 dwt Super B-Class vessel, AAL Hamburg, laden with four barges

AAL Shipping and its parent Schoeller Holdings have never idled for long and 2024 is no different. Earlier this year, AAL christened two Super B Class heavy lift vessels – the AAL Hamburg and the AAL Limassol – kicking off a string of eight vessels that will be in service by the end of 2026. AAL, which specializes in breakbulk, project heavy lift, steel, dry bulk and general cargo, is heavily investing in new design features that the company believes will separate it from competitors. AJOT recently had the opportunity to interview Christophe Grammare, AAL’s managing director, about the state of the industry, challenges, and the company’s future.

AJOT: You said recently the AAL Hamburg and the AAL Limassol are “the realization of a long-term strategy initiated several years ago to have a highly capable fleet suited to serve the variety of cargo types and industries that our customers represent.” Could you elaborate?

Grammare: AAL has developed from a multipurpose carrier carrying initially mostly breakbulk and steel cargoes to transporting larger and heavier project cargoes worldwide with a growing fleet that includes our second-generation vessels, the A-Class and the B-Class, giving us access to 350-metric-tonne gear combinable to 700-metric-tonne lifting capacity.
We are very proud of the innovative design, which is now already being copied by competitors. The main design enhancements include:

• The hull and propulsion have been one of the main focuses to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Super B-Class. In an environment where alternative fuels remain scarce, the vessels are methanol ready, and their hull and propulsion have been designed to reduce vessel consumption and emissions to a minimum.

• An unobstructed deck with all cranes and funnel positioned on the Port side enables the loading of extremely long cargoes. This is complemented by a major design innovation, the ‘AAL ECO-DECK’, which has been created by our in-house engineers and uses the tweendeck pontoons to extend the deck surface area to the Starboard side. These design enhancements combined allow an unobstructed deck space of over 5,000 square metres, which takes us in the ‘deck carrier’ surface range and makes the vessel deck loading extremely versatile.

• The vessel holds have also been enhanced, moving away from the traditional MPP designs with four to five holds on this vessel size towards two holds to prioritize open areas in both length and width with the removal of center line bulkheads from the design. This not only allows the Super B-Class to load cargoes up to 68 m long and 25 m wide under deck, but this also allows the vessel to participate in the carriage of bulk parcels on backhauls, making sure that every leg of the voyage is used to transport cargo and therefore ultimately reduce emissions per ton of cargo carried by avoiding ballast legs.

• Another design enhancement is the three 350-metric-tonne capacity cranes. This enables AAL to load heavy project cargoes all over the vessel and not only in one hold, making the vessels unique in their ability to load large quantities of heavy units.

• The final two vessels out of the Yard, the ‘AAL NEWCASTLE’ and ‘AAL MUMBAI’, will each feature an increased lifting capacity of 800 metric tonnes.

AJOT: AAL’s newbuild order of eight Super B-class vessels would suggest the company is bullish on the future of the global heavy lift/project cargo market. Yes?

Grammare: Generally speaking, we consider ourselves as quite conservative when it comes to market demand. We all know markets can turn very quickly, especially with the current geopolitical instability and therefore we are not banking heavily on a bullish future market. Today, our fleet totals 29 vessels with the majority having reached a mid-life point, and the order of eight Super B-Class vessels is both an investment in the future in terms of fleet capability and sustainability, as well as a move towards the renewal of the existing fleet.

AJOT: Various public reports have stated many different things about the future of the heavy lift-project cargo market. Where does the truth lie?

Grammare: I believe the only reliable truth is the current global instability, and the increased risk for unpredictable events — COVID-19, the Panama drought, Ukraine War, the actions of Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, as examples. These events – all reasonably independent from each other — have all had a huge impact on supply and demand in the heavy lift, project cargo market.

Next year, AAL will commemorate 30 years of service, and we can say that experience has taught us that we always need to be prepared for change in market conditions. One of our focuses is to remain agile and adapt our offer to market demand.

Project cancellations or delays are not a new thing, the road to a successful project is a long and difficult one, and newbuildings in the premium MPP sector seem to remain sustainable with orders being made by existing owners/operators towards the renewal of their fleet in similar fashion to what AAL [has done]. It is very hard to really predict which way the market will go, but history has taught us to air on the side of caution.
What is sure though is that project cargoes are getting heavier and more complex and the bar is getting higher on what makes a premium heavy lift carrier, which has required some investment from our side to ensure we can continue servicing this market to today’s standards.

AJOT: How do ongoing global supply chain disruptions alter the process of delivering high-value project cargo?

Grammare: Whilst we at AAL have tried to mitigate the impacts of these global events, it is clear that they have impacted the efficiency and cost of shipping services. The rather sudden inability to sail safely through the Red Sea has caused major disruptions in terms of vessel timing, which are being felt a few months later; voyage durations have been extended by 10 to 30 days on some routes. Carriers have been unable to ‘absorb’ this increase of sailing costs and freight charges had to be increased to maintain the sustainability of the services.
Most project owners and charterers have been very understanding of the situation as for high value project cargoes, safe transportation is paramount – if critical equipment was to be damaged, the possible impact and consequential costs of the whole project being delayed are way beyond the limited increase in freight charges required to ensure cargo is carried safely around the Cape of Good Hope.

AJOT: What industry will provide a large portion of project cargo business in the next 10 years?

Grammare: The sector where we are seeing the most growth is around green power generation – not only wind turbines but also solar projects that require power-related infrastructure, innovative projects around hydrogen generation and usage, as well as any type of power generation in general. Nevertheless, the project industry moves in cycles, and we can also expect mining and oil and gas projects to come back as soon as finance becomes more affordable.

AJOT: Wind energy components are growing in size and weight each year, does this provide a challenge from a project cargo perspective?

Grammare: The increasing size of wind turbine components (especially when moving towards offshore components) is a challenge – the number of vessels able to load this equipment efficiently and transport a sufficient number of units to make it affordable is limited. This is one of the aspects where the Super B-Class design comes into action, offering sustainable and affordable solutions for the industry of the future.

AJOT: What does AAL’s commitment to methanol-ready ships say about the prospect of reduced carbon emissions and sustainability across the marine cargo industry?

Grammare: The need for a reduction in carbon emissions in the shipping industry is real and has some hard milestones coming up in 2030 and beyond. The methanol readiness of our Super B-Class is a must in today’s environment and will allow us to reduce emissions as biofuels become readily available around the globe. The main strength of the Super B-Class remains an improved hull and propulsion design, which is already greatly improving emissions.