Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) found a number of issues on board the livestock carrier Al Messilah during a port state control and livestock pre-loading inspection at the port of Fremantle carried out on October 20.
The surveyor found holes corroded in the decks and bulkheads throughout the ship as well as wastage of the supporting structure. Multiple issues were detected with the electrical cabling including wasted conduits, improperly mounted cables, exposed wires and unsealed electrical junction boxes. In addition, the generator was unserviceable, the bulkhead structure was damaged and repairs throughout the livestock decks were of poor quality, an AMSA spokesperson told World Maritime News.
As a result, on Monday, October 23, AMSA withdrew the vessel’s Australian Certificate for the Carriage of Livestock pending the completion of repairs.
The certificate is a prerequisite for the carriage of livestock and AMSA does not allow ships that are non-complaint with MO43 to carry livestock from Australia.
“AMSA is awaiting confirmation from the vessel operator about how they intend to rectify the issues,” the spokesperson said.
The vessel is chartered to carry 75,000 sheep to the Persian Gulf.
Al Messilah was involved in a major incident last year when up to 3,000 sheep died from heat stress while underway from Fremantle to the Middle East in July 2016, according to local media.
World Maritime News Staff