AAL delivers turbine blades and towers to King Rocks wind farm

Multipurpose carrier AAL Shipping has delivered 125,175 revenue tonnes of wind turbine blades and towers for Western Australia’s 105 MW Kings Rock wind farm.

Typically requiring three or four sailings, AAL instead deployed its 32,000 dwt Super-B class vessel AAL Antwerp along with its 31,000 dwt A-class AAL Shanghai – ultimately improving overall logistics efficiency and schedule integrity for the project.

The final shipment saw AAL Antwerp arrive in Bunbury, Western Australia, carrying 91,739 revenue tonnes of wind energy cargo, including 51 wind turbine blades measuring up to 80 m in length and weighing more than 36 tonnes each. The blades were stowed up to six units wide and five tiers high. This individual shipment was responsible for more than 70 percent of the project’s total cargo volume.

“Despite the sheer size and volume of the components involved, by optimising cargo stowage and vessel utilisation we were able to consolidate what would traditionally require multiple sailings into just two voyages, delivering tangible financial and schedule benefits for our customer while maintaining the highest standards of safety and cargo care,” said Renate Popperegional operations manager, AAL Shipping Australia.

Nicola Pacificoglobal head of engineering, AAL Shipping, added: “The discharge operation of AAL Antwerp in Bunbury presented its own challenges, particularly the stringent crew and cargo safety measures required when handling upper-tier blades stacked up to five levels high.

“Painstaking planning and execution were required to accommodate port crane height and outreach limitations. Despite the complexity, discharge was completed safely and efficiently within nine days.”

With environmental mandates tightening, AAL last month said that it is moving to decouple fleet growth from emissions output.