AAL Shipping transported Toshiba-built power station components from China and Japan to Queensland Australia on behalf of global logistics provider DB Schenker.
The components will be used to repair the Callide power station as part of a USD200 million project to fix damaged turbines and return one of Queensland’s coal-fired power plants to full capacity, after failures had resulted in mass power outages from the NSW border to the north of Cairns.
Shipped on AAL’s monthly Asia-East Coast Australia liner service, the first batch of cargoes included a 270-tonne transformer and 600 cu m of accessories, loaded onboard AAL Singapore at the port of Shanghai. The vessel was then due to offload the cargoes onto a barge at the port of Gladstone.
“Whilst loading the transformer in China and before her sailing to Gladstone, our client requested if the AAL Singapore could deviate to Yokohama in Japan and load other critical accessories for the same project, which we were happy to do,” explained Chris Yabsley, chartering manager, AAL Australia.
“AAL was then further engaged to harness our vessel’s heavy lift cranes and transfer a large 276-tonne generator stator from wharf laydown to a waiting barge, which we again executed seamlessly.”
He said the challenges of the project included complex heavy lift operations, shore-ship transfers as well as critical delivery dates to meet barge, tide and local authority deadlines. “Discharge could also only take place during daylight hours as both the transformer and generator stator had to be perfectly positioned by our cranes onto SPMTs waiting on the barge,” added Yabsley.
The components were then transported 100 km via road to the Callide power station.
