LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Worldwide Agencies (AWA), a global network of freight forwarders and agents, announced today that it is representing Austral Asia Line's (AAL) new West Coast service. AAL, a leading ocean transport operator in the Asia-Pacific region, caters to the specific needs of the breakbulk, heavy-lift, dry bulk and project cargo industries.
Under the multi-year contract that begins Oct. 1, AWA will serve as sales agent for AAL's direct port calls to and from Long Beach/Los Angeles; Vancouver, Washington; Everett, Washington, Vancouver, British Columbia; Prince Rupert, British Columbia; Pusan, Korea; Shanghai, and in China: Tianjin, Nantong and Huangpu. Heavy lift relay services of up to 700 tons are available to: Singapore, Laem Chabang, Thailand; and in Australia: Darwin, Mackay, Brisbane, Newcastle, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Freemantle, Port Hedland and Dampier, as well as New Zealand base ports. Additional ports will be represented on an incentive basis.
Ben Huizenga, AAL's general manager of global operations, says AAL appointed AWA as its representative because "AWA's approach will help deliver complete freight solutions to AAL customers in the North American heavy lift market."
In its West Coast service, AAL will deploy three new 31,000 deadweight vessels designed for heavy-lift and project cargo. These A Class vessels were custom built to handle multiple purposes. Features include:
- A lifting capacity of up to 700 metric tons
- Five box-shaped holds with multiple, adjustable twin-decks; the decks are partly divided by a centreline bulkhead offering natural cargo separation
- Hatches that are wider and up to 37.9m in length
A variety of cargo is expected to ship on these vessels, including oil well and gas supplies, forestry products, wind and alternative energy products, heavy machinery, yachts and other craft from 20 to over 200 feet, agricultural products, steel products, and more.
AWA's alignment with AAL enables AWA's customers to move "virtually anything," says AWA CEO Andrew Scott. "With our knowledge of the U.S. market and AAL's fleet of new vessels, there is nothing we can't move from anywhere in the United States to anywhere in Australasia. AAL's service offers our breakbulk, oversized and project cargo customers another option over traditional vessels and makes us a truly one-stop-shop provider," he says.
Scott also notes that this partnership is in line with AWA's desire to be a leader in the Australasia trade "We are honored to represent such a well-known brand and service as Austral Asia Lines in the U.S. market," he says.
In addition to partnerships with a network of international forwarders and agents, AWA has contracts with a variety of air and ocean carriers and works closely with thousands of U.S. and foreign vendors, including ground carriers, ports, airports, ramps, terminals and container freight stations serving AWA's core markets of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.