The Australian Maritime Safety Authority will carry out a focused inspection campaign (FIC) on livestock ships from March 1 to August 31. The campaign will target all livestock ships departing Australian ports.
Livestock ships are among the eldest category in merchant shipping and have been plagued by severe safety issues in recent years. The issue has also come into the general public domain in Australia following a television exposé into the livestock trades including shocking footage at sea from a whistleblower seafarer.
The new Australian campaign will look closely at the maintenance and repair requirements of livestock ships in relation to international conventions as well as the ships crews’ familiarity with determining the ship’s stability and the use of accurate information for the livestock cargo carried when calculating stability.
Every livestock ship that carries livestock as a cargo from Australia will be subject to one FIC inspection during this campaign.
