BEEF CENTRAL: LACK OF SHIPS the issue no-one talks about

Beef Central is on the same page as VALE (see listed blogs): where are the ships?

Beef Central reports that trade sources have stated that "Changing dynamics in the livestock shipping sector have reduced the number of vessels readily available to Australian exporters.. Only a small number of the hundreds of livestock transport ships operating around the world are accredited by the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA) to carry livestock from Australia."

Gaining AMSA accreditation is rigorous and costly, requiring surveys and inspections to maintain accreditation from year to year. AMSA informed VALE recently that only 23 vessels have accreditation (ACCL) but even that number is higher than the number of ships actively working out of Australia. Beef Central explains that not all maintain AMSA accreditation when they become gainfully deployed on other trading routes around the world and that some vessels have also reached the end of their working life and have been retired. In addition, most are currently plying routes from South America (Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina) to the Middle East and China, or Europe to the Middle East and internally within European ports.

The sale of many vessels is also affecting the availability of shipping locally. Wellard last month confirmed the sale of the last of its five ships, the MV Ocean Drover, which has been bought by Turkish owner to shore up its cattle transport requirements from South America. Shipping giant Vroon is also understood to be in the process of seeking buyers for its Livestock Express division, which owns many of the modern G-Class vessels which carry the bulk of cattle from Australia.

The bottom line is that for sheep particularly, but also cattle, shipping availability is now the major threat to Australian live export. What does it take to get farmers to recognise this limitation?

See: https://www.vale.org.au/blog/an-insider-perspective-on-the-issue-of-where-are-the-ships
https://splash247.com/live-animal-export-false-hopes-on-a-dying-fleet/