Page 16: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Jul/Aug 2019)

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MULTIPURPOSE SHIPPING OUTLOOK

Wind turbine capacity has grown considerably over recent sel types with a variety of stowage con? gurations to provide years. This results in needing longer blades and more power- regular sailings and highly ? exible port calls for a broad range ful components to generate enough power to supplement, and of cargo types alongside; including large and heavy project in some cases replace, existing fossil fuel power. The trans- cargo, breakbulk, steel and dry bulk commodities.

portation of such turbine blades requires careful planning and The assurance of frequent sailings, ? exible port calls, and a expert engineering – as well as the huge open deck space and range of tonnage options continue to be a signi? cant selling stacking capability needed to accommodate their sheer length. point for AAL’s customers and reinforces our reputation as a

With its growing ? eet of ‘mega-size’ MPVs – offering wind leading independent carrier within the multipurpose market. energy customers some of the highest cargo intake volumes in A customer-? rst, quality-focused approach to business enables the sector – AAL’s ? eet is future-proofed for the new genera- the operator to remain independent within the consolidating tion of larger turbine components. For example, its 31,000 dwt market and continue to expand and strengthen global networks

A-class vessels boast a cargo intake capacity of 40,000cbm across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

and lifting capacity of 700 tonnes. In 2018, one of these mega-

MPVs transported a record 45 wind blades (63m each) on a

The Author Kyriacos Panayides single sailing to the Port of Adelaide in Australia. These were bound for the new AGL Silverton Windfarm and will produce is Managing Director at AAL. Panayides joined the ranks of the shipping 780,000 MWh of renewable energy per year – enough power industry in the early 1990s following his graduation in Business Adminis- tration and post graduate studies in Shipping. A Fellow of the Institute of to maintain more than 137,000 Australian homes.

Chartered Shipbrokers, he combines extensive experience in multiple sec-

Onshore wind capacity alone is expected to jump 32% to tors of the shipping industry, such as shipowning, shipmanagement, com- 60 GW in 2019, so demand for vessels to carry wind equip- mercial operations, tanker pools, liners and shipping agencies. Through- ment between continents is unlikely to dry up – such stabil- out his career, he has been involved in numerous shipping projects and ity is much-needed given the market’s unpredictability. AAL transactions, as well as holding several directorial positions in shipping recently launched its Europe-Far East service to cater for companies belonging to the Schoeller Holdings Group. Since 2015 he this consistent cargo stream, while employing multiple ves- has resided in Singapore as Managing Director of AAL Shipping. 16 Maritime Logistics Professional July/August 2019 | |