Van Aaslt has contributed in the development in the first Tier III Scania self-discharging cement carrier called 'NACC Alicudi'. The 120m vessel operates Scania IMO tier III diesel engines with a unique pneumatic conveying system for loading and unloading cement, fly ash and granulated slag.

The vessel had to fit the Scania Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system in the engine room deckhouse, which was smaller as the previous non-SCR equipped engine room deckhouse. This resulted into lowering emissions, but also, and very important for the cement carrier owner, the lowering of the height of the loading system and loading points on board the vessel.

The ship will operate along the east coast of the USA and Canada for McInnis Cement over the next three years. This area has been declared a NOx Emission Control Area (ECA) for newly-built and converted vessels as from January 2016, and the NACC Alicudi is now compliant with the area emission rules. The new rules under IMO Tier III (NOx Emission Control Areas) envisage a 70 per cent reduction in NOx as well as SO2 emissions from diesel engines.