Independent Observer Reports

VALE is compiling all the IO Summaries and any reports obtained under FOI to analyse the voyages (looking much better than usual) and DAWR transparency (so far not looking any better than usual). Bear with us....this will take some time but we are underway.

Report 1: April 2019 MV Maysora; Adelaide, Fremantle, Turkey; 29 day voyage; sheep mortality 0.43%; cattle mortality 0.11%; 11 days of mild to severe heat stress noted in sheep and cattle (even pastoral cattle) but no mention in IO SUMMARY. Poor feed quality. One lamb born but not noted in IO Summary.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENT: see document
VALE COMMENTS: see docum ent

Report 2: May 2019; MV Al Messilah; Fremantle, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE; 19 day voyage; sheep mortality 0.34%; cattle mortality 0; 16 days of heat stress noted in sheep but the IO did not refer to heat stress and nor did the IO SUMMARY. Ship temperatures not included and only taken once daily in the morning.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENTS: see do cument

Report 3: May 2018; Bader III; Adelaide, Fremantle, Israel, Jordan; 30 day voyage;
0.27% sheep mortality (169 sheep ); 0.26% cattle mortality (15 cattle). 6 lambs born and 3 survived. Heat stress from Day 3. There is no mention of "heat stress" in the official IO summary despite it being noted in live sheep and that it was a documented cause of cattle deaths. Day 16 had 34 degrees Celcius wet bulb temperature. For Merino sheep, the DAWR's heat stress threshold is 30.6 and its mortality limit is 35.5.
And the DAWR accidentally omitted handing over some relevant pages from the IO notes for May 19 obtained under FOI: see direct image below!

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
VALE SUMMARY FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENT: official summary vs FOI documents

Report 4: May 2018; Yangtze Fortune;Fremantle to Oman; 18-day voyage. Sheep only and 0.30% mortality (46). Significant heat stress occurred from Day 5 for an unspecified duration. Twin lambs were born but euthanased due to expected high heat in feedlot. The description "heat stress" did not appear in the IO SUMMARY.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 5: May 2018; MV Gudali Express; Fremantle to Hon La, Vietnam; 11 day voyage. Cattle only (2410) and 0.25 per cent mortality (6). IO Summary remarkable for its complete lack of detail.
IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 6: May 2018; MV Awassi Express/ MV Anna Marra; Broome, Panjang, Jakarta, Pasir Gudang;14-day voyage. Cattle only and 0.03% mortality (3). Panting in pastoral cattle at rest but no heat stress recorded. Hose and trough leaks.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 7: May 2018, Al Shuwaikh, Adelaide, Fremantle, Kuwait, Hamad, Jebel Ali; voyage length 30 days (from Adelaide), 24 days (from Fremantle); sheep mortality from Adelaide 0.98% (563); overall sheep mortality (0.88%); cattle mortality 0; sheep mortality from Fremantle 0.39% (46); cattle mortality 0. Heat stress occurred and deaths due to smothering. On numerous occasions, animals in some pens were left without water overnight. Food quality was quite poor on some decks and mouldy food was sometimes present in both sheep and cattle troughs. Sheep deprived of fresh food for 30-32 hours. Inaccurate sheep numbers loaded. This voyage was only one month after the 60 Minutes program!

IO SUMMARY REPORT: not available until 2019; see document
IO FOI DOCUMENT: see document
VALE COMMENT: see document

NOTE 1: The FOI documents are heavily redacted but critical comments still remain. The sheep number from Adelaide is erroneous with 275 MORE sheep being unloaded than possible. The 0.98% figure thus cannot be accepted as being correct: it could be an under-estimate (if extra sheep loaded to cover possible deficits) OR, it could be an over-estimate (if the number of sheep loaded was truly less than stated). Number discrepancies for this exporter have been evident on other high mortality and routine mortality voyages.
NOTE 2: one source of avoidable heat was discovered by the IO and not by the AAV (8 years experience) or the stockman (25 years of experience).

Report 8: May 2018; MV Maysora; Fremantle, Turkey; 21 day voyage. Sheep mortality 0.23% (155). Cattle mortality 0. Heat stress occurred but the words heat stress not mentioned in the IO SUMMARY. 6 lambs born - not recorded in the IO SUMMARY.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENT: see document

High Mortality Voyage: 31 May 2018. Cattle to China. Exporter: Phoenix Exports Pty Ltd. The mortality rate for this cattle consignment was 1.45 per cent (46/3180) exceeding the reportable level of 1.0 per cent for cattle voyages of 10 days or more. This incident is currently under investigation by the department. The interim findings suggest a combination of BRD and heat stress were the main causes of the mortalities. The department required an independent observer be onboard the next voyage leaving Australia.The observer reported the cattle to be in good healthy condition for export, however this voyage also recorded a reportable mortality incident. The department has suspended Phoenix’s ability to export to China, while they review their processes and implement effective corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

BUT: we dont have any independent observer reports or high mortality voyage reports for these voyages. The only reference is the Actions by the Secretary!

Report 9: June 2018; MV Al Messilah; Fremantle, Kuwait, QATAR, UAE; 21 days. Sheep mortality rate 0.53% (306); cattle mortality 0. Heat stress of uncertain duration described and illustrated with photos also but no mention of heat stress in the IO SUMMARY and no representative photos included. Blind sheep unloaded for transport in the Middle East.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 10: June 2019; MV Bahijah; Fremantle, Israel; 22 day voyage; sheep mortality 0.18% (17 mortalities); cattle mortality 0.03% (one mortality). This was the first voyage and heat stress described in the IO Summary. After this report, the DAWR never included "heat stress" as a description in any summary.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: see document
VALE COMMENTS: see document

Report 11: June 2018; MV Jawan; Broome, Panjang (Indonesia); eight day voyage. Cattle only and 0 mortality.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: none available
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 12: July 2018, Yangtze Fortune; cattle voyage to China. 10 months later no report available but 33 cattle believed to have died making this a high mortality voyage.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: none available
VALE COMMENT: high mortality voyage; according to a media report, on its return, AMSA found drainage holes on livestock decks were not big enough and prevented water draining quickly away from the deck. AMSA ordered modifications to be made to the the Yangtze Fortune, saying the vessel was not suited to voyages of more than 10 days.
MEDIA COMMENT: see live-sheep-export-row-hits-cattle-ship-that-fails-inspection-leaving-fremantle

Report 13: July 2018, MV Jawan, Broome to Panjang and Jakarta; 9 day voyage; cattle mortality 0.06% (2/6164).

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI DOCUMENTS: none available
VALE COMMENT: no report of how and when temperatures recorded (the only report not to do so) and only 50% cattle could lie down at one time.

Report 14: August 2018; Jawan; 6342 cattle form Broome to Indonesia; 7 day voyage; 0.06% (4 mortalities).

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENTS: see documen t

Report 15: August 2018; Gudali Express; Broome, Panjang, Belawan; 11-day voyage.
Cattle only and mortality 0.08% (3).

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
IO FOI Documents: none available
VALE COMMENT: see document

Report 16: August 2018; Yangtze Harmony; Fremantle to Huanghua, China; 14 days; 0.13% (3/2190) cattle. AMSA found ventilation issues before leaving that required correction. IO noted issues with water troughs. Understocked but some pens still exceeded ASEL.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see document
MEDIA COMMENT: see live-sheep-export-row-hits-cattle-ship-that-fails-inspection-leaving-fremantle

Report 17: August 2018; Gloucester Express; Geelong to China; 20 day voyage; 0.03% cattle mortality (1). Two significant breaches of ASEL: insufficient food loaded for a 20 day voyage; one late pregnant heifer loaded (and died giving birth).

IO SUMMARY REPORT: See report
VALE COMMENT: See comment

High Mortality Voyage 75: No veterinarian onboard. No mention of an independent observer - so IO not present on all ships.
See: http://www.vale.org.au/high-mortality-voyages.html

Report 18: August 2018; MV Jawan; Cattle to China
IO SUMMARY REPORT: none available 12 months after voyage??

Report 19: September 2018; MV Ocean Swagman; Portland to China, 20 days; 6841, breeder cattle; 0.06% mortality (4).
IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: pending

Report 20: September 2018, MV Bahijah, Fremantle to Eilat, Israel; 20 days; 0.07% (4/5907) cattle mortality.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: pending

Report 21:Maysora, Cattle to Israel and JordanSeptember 2018. Status: In progress

Report 22: Gloucester Express; Cattle to China; September 2018. Status: In progress

Report 23: October 2018; MV Ganado Express;Portland, Beihai (China);18 days.
Cattle only and 0.03% mortality (1). High heat and humidity for voyage with no mention of actual WBT or panting scores.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see document

Reports 24-34: Status for each: in progress

Report 35: November 2018; MV Rahmeh; Darwin to Panjang (indonesia); 10 days; 0.05% (3/438) buffalo mortality and 0.45% (2/5935) cattle mortality. IO found problems not noted by crew. Report 9 months later

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see repo rt

Report 36; Al Shuwaikh. Listed as complete but the link leads to a message "Unauthorised"

Report 37: November 2018; MV Shorthorn Express; Broome to Jakarta, Indonesia; 8 days; 0.03% (1/2875) cattle mortality. No issues identifiable from report. >50% of animals able to lie down suggests that not all could in all pens. Report 9 months later

IO SUMMARY: see report

Reports 38-39: in progress

Report 40: November 2018, MV Ocean Ute; Portland to Tianjin, China; 22 days; 0.84% (47/5606) mortality breeder cattle. Voyage 6 days longer than expected. Not enough food. Extreme weather variation from freezing to exceeding the HST. Rough seas. No mention of heat stress despite WBT 30 degrees.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see report

Reports 41 and 44: listed as in progress

Report 42: November 2018, MV Anna Marra (formerly Awassi Express before 60 Minutes exposure); Townsville to Indonesia; 16 days; 0.08% (14/17450) cattle mortality. VENTILATION ISSUES IDENTIFIED! Report 9 months later.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see report

Report 43: November 2018, MV Ocean Swagman; Fremantle to Vietnam; 11 days; 0.12% (5/4251) cattle mortality. No heat stress reported but cattle congregated near fans and pens reportedly boggy on occasions. Rough seas encountered. Report 9 months later.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report

Report 53: December 2018, Fremantle to Vietnam, 16 days,0.02% mortality (2/4335 cattle). Uneventful voyage with no problems detectable from this summary.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report

Reports 54 and 55: cattle voyages to China in December 2018 (yep 8 months ago) - no reports available

Report 56: December 2018, MV Yangtze Harmony; Portland to China; 22 days; 0.25 (10/4975). Conditions ranged from hot and humid (no heat stress reported) through to very cold. Water supply to cattle inadequate on 9 of the 22 days. Constant drainage issues.

IO SUMMARY REPORT: see report
VALE COMMENT: see report