AAL to further expand breakbulk fleet

The breakbulk carrier plans to increase the size of its fleet to more than 500,000 deadweight tons this year.    Breakbulk carrier AAL plans to increase the size of its fleet to more than 500,000 deadweight tons this year. 
   AAL said it has doubled revenues in the past two years, increased its market share in core regions and grown from an Australia-Asian carrier to a global operator with the expansion of its fleet, trade routes, services and operations infrastructure. The company also recently rebranded itself from Austral Asia Line to AAL. 
   The carrier’s fleet currently comprises 14 owned multipurpose vessels — 10 31,000-deadweight-ton and four 19,000-deadweight-ton vessels — each with a combined heavy-lift capability of 700 tons. It also uses third-party tonnage on long-term charters, as well as vessels on single voyage charter.
   AAL’s customers represent industries such as oil and gas, mining, construction and renewable energy.
   “Despite the challenges we all face in today’s shipping industry, AAL has continued to realize strong growth and performance,” said Kyriacos Panayides, AAL’s managing director, in a statement.
   He added that “long-term relationships” with shippers “have created the foundation upon which we are expanding our global operations and the increased customer demand that allows us to enrich our fleet and service portfolio.”
   The carrier didn’t reveal when and how many vessels it will acquire to meet its fleet size goal.