VESSEL REVIEW | Mila – First ship in new multi-purpose carrier series for SAL Heavy Lift

SAL Heavy Lift’s Portuguese-flagged newbuild ship Mila joined its fleet on August 3, 2026, as the first in a series of multi-purpose carriers built by China’s Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering.

The vessel combines a deadweight of about 14,300 with two cranes capable of lifting up to 700 tonnes in tandem.

SAL said the new series is intended to carry complex, oversized loads serving the industrial, mining, infrastructure, offshore and energy sectors. The company also described the design as fuel-efficient, with flexible cargo intake and efficient port turnaround supporting employment across global trade lanes.

Mila has an LOA of 159.95 metres (524.77 feet), a length between perpendiculars of 153.301 metres (502.96 feet), a beam of 22.8 metres (74.8 feet), a depth of 11.55 metres (37.89 feet), and a draught of 8.3 metres (27 feet).

Suited for a range of cargo types including containers

The ship’s DNV class record gives an exact deadweight of 14,278, a gross tonnage of 12,658, and a net tonnage of 5,355. SAL said the ship has a maximum speed of 15 knots while a 600kW bow thruster provides additional lateral manoeuvrability.

The cargo spaces comprise two holds served by two hatches, with 18,500 cubic metres (653,000 cubic feet) of bale capacity in the tweendeck configuration. The two hatch openings are served by 13 cover elements. These comprise 10 double-skinned, weathertight hydraulic folding covers and three double-skinned pontoon-type covers.

The cargo floor space totals 4,763 square metres (51,270 square feet), comprising 1,731 square metres (18,630 square feet) under deck and 3,032 square metres (32,640 square feet) on deck.

The tanktop has the highest published permissible loading, at 20 tonnes per square metre. Tweendeck loading limits differ between the holds: 2.5 tonnes per square metre in hold number one and four tonnes per square metre in hold number two. Hatchcovers are rated at five tonnes per square metre.

The container capacity is 953 TEUs including 50 reefer containers.

Configured for enhanced low-emission operation

The vessel carries DNV’s Ice(1A) notation, also identified as Ice Class 1A in SAL’s particulars. The class record also includes Container, Grab(3–20 t), Hatchcoverless and Strengthened(IB) designations.

Environmental and machinery-related entries include Clean, BWM(T), Fuel ready (LFL[D; MEc]) and ER (SCR, TIER III), thus denoting compliance with IMO NOx emissions standards through the integration of exhaust aftertreatment systems. DNV also recorded a separate “shore power ready” descriptive notation.

SAL’s equipment schedule additionally listed Mila as “IMO fitted”, “Lakes Fitted”, “CO2 Fitted” and “Australia Fitted”.Position in the SAL fleet

SAL named Lina, Hannah and Pia as the three sister vessels to follow Mila. Shipping company Auerbach described the delivered vessel as the first of a series of six ships ordered.

Auerbach identified wind energy components as Mila’s initial employment. In its August 6 delivery announcement, the company said the vessel will commence service loading that cargo a few miles downriver from the yard where she was built.