AAL Australia completed a tailor-made heavy-lift move, transporting chemical plant components from Sattahip, Thailand to Dampier, Western Australia. The shipment required AAL Australia to adapt its liner resources and provide a dedicated tramp-chartering solution aligned to American Shipping and Chartering’s operational requirements.
The carrier deployed its 19,000 dwt S-Class heavy-lift vessel AAL Dampier, equipped with a combined maximum crane-lift capacity of 700 tonnes, three cargo holds, flexible tweendecks, and a large weather deck. This configuration supported a stowage plan aimed at maximising intake while remaining compliant with safe navigation visibility-line regulations for the tallest item, which stood almost 20 m.
Cargo included heavy-lift and over-dimensional components weighing up to and exceeding 100 tonnes. The most demanding unit—a chemical tank—pushed the lift toward the crane’s operating limit and required a 16-point rigging arrangement with specified sling lengths. With under 500 mm clearance between the weather deck and the unit’s underside, AAL Australia deployed an on-site engineering team to supervise the lift and securing process.
The shipment supports Project Ceres, a urea plant led by Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilisers on the Burrup Peninsula, about 20 km northwest of Karratha, Western Australia. The project is expected to cost around $4.5 billion and is designed to produce approximately 2.3 million tonnes of urea per year. Natural gas supply is set under a 20-year agreement with Woodside, with an option to extend. AAL Australia said the vessel was redeployed from its regular liner service, with loading and discharge completed without incident or damage.
