With the “AAL Limassol”, MPP shipping company AAL has christened its first ship in the new Super B series.
The 32,000-tonner was officially given its name on Friday and will sail as “AAL Limassol” for the shipping company from the Heinrich Schoeller group of companies in future.
“The first ship in the eagerly awaited Super B-Class series” has officially joined the fleet, according to a social media post by the shipping company. “AAL Limassol” is due to embark on her maiden voyage in May.
AAL ordered a total of six units last year. The multi-purpose heavy-lifters with a lifting capacity of 32,000 tons were ordered from the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong shipyard in China.
“AAL Limassol” as a tribute to the place where it all began
Five of the Super B-Class are named after important general cargo ports: Antwerp, Hamburg, Houston, Dubai and Dammam. The first ship will bear the name “AAL Limassol” as a tribute to the city “where the carrier’s story began in 1995”. The newbuilds are a central component of AAL’s strategy. The shipping company is focusing on relatively large ships.
The Heavy-lift vessels will be 179.9 m long, 30 m wide and have a ballast draught of 6.5 m, with each vessel capable of carrying up to 80,000 tons of general cargo. The weather deck will provide 4,500 square meters of open cargo space, with extendable pontoons on the starboard side of the vessel to further increase deck storage space. Three heavy-duty cranes mounted on the port side, each with a capacity of 350 t and a tandem lifting capacity of 700 t and a reach of 35.7 m, will enable loading of the fore and aft deck to optimize stowage space and stowage time.
