AAL Shipping (AAL) celebrated the official unveiling and naming of its latest Super B-Class vessel, AAL Newcastle, at the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou, China. Marking a significant milestone in the carrier’s long-term fleet development strategy, the ceremony also served as the backdrop for a major announcement: two further Super B-Class vessels. AAL Tianjin and AAL Miami, will join the fleet in early 2028, expanding the class to ten ships in total.
“The AAL Newcastle and her sister newbuild vessels, embody AAL’s commitment to continuous improvement and customer driven innovation; whose needs have been kept in the forefront of the design. Combined with our award-winning engineering and operations teams, the Super B-Class vessels are already performing industry first operations –operations we are incredibly proud of,” commented Kyriacos Panayides, CEO, AAL Shipping.
“We would like to thank the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard and the designers who have helped bring these vessels into the market for Project Cargo marking a significant moment for AAL. The relationship we have built with China’s premier shipyard over the last 3 decades and the sheer volume of vessels built at a Group Level, and with our partners, have enabled these building slots for AAL.”
Purpose built for heavy lift and complex project cargo, the 32,000dwt AAL Newcastle and AAL Mumbai (due for delivery in June 2026), will debut a series of significant technical improvements that elevate lifting performance and cargo flexibility. Among the most notable advancements is an upgraded heavy-lift capability, increasing individual crane capacity from 350 to 400 tonnes.
“As cargo requirements evolve, particularly in the offshore renewable energy sector, our fleet must evolve with them,” commented Yahaya Sanusi, Deputy Head of AAL Engineering. “The vessel’s increased combined lifting capacity of 800 tonnes will open opportunities previously beyond the fleet’s reach; longer tower sections can now be safely single-lifted to accelerate loading and discharge operations. Every enhancement has been engineered around real operational challenges, ensuring we deliver the performance, safety and flexibility our customers expect.”
In addition to the increased 400 tonne crane capacity, AAL has introduced further design refinements across the four new vessels to support faster cargo operations and optimise deck utilisation. The vessels will feature a new 26 metre lifting beam, an upgrade from the 20 metre beams deployed on earlier vessels, enabling the handling of elongated structures with greater ease and precision. Additional enhancements to the main and auxiliary hooks, offer approximately one additional metre of outreach, expanding lifting envelopes and improving the handling of oversized project cargoes.
