GULF LIVESTOCK I: NO AMSA GENERATOR LEAVING NZ

A comprehensive independent investigation by Bloomberg into the tragic sinking of the GL 1 with the loss of 40 lives (including an Australian vet and stockman) and all cattle (5867 dairy heifers) has just been aired. In addition to the litany of mechanical problems exposed previously by VALE and others, Bloomberg found an email from the captain just before the vessel arrived in Napier to ask what to do about the fact that the AMSA generator (mandatory for live export from Australia to ensure back up power) was not working. And that was just the tip of the iceberg for an unstable converted carrier with poor maintenance and repetitive engine problems owned by a company in financial difficulties that did well out of the insurance when it sank. Of course not helped by NZ (and other) exporters being able to weigh their cattle without food and water so they could cram more on the boat (curfew weight does not equal real weight especially if on entrance to feedlot 30 or so days before voyage in growing cattle!) and insufficient fodder for the voyage ...and...and...and...

But regardless, just add that one to the Barkly Pearl, expelled from Australia after AMSA found a raft of unacceptable defects investigating the loss of a hull plate near Geraldton  just two months after being espoused by the live export industry as a state of the art ship, and now the Al Messilah. Al Messilah has been one of the main carriers of  sheep from Fremantle for decades and just quietly, in 2025, without any notice, and after months of repair in Chinese shipyards, it too has been banned from Fremantle (and by extension Australia) for repetitive lack of attention to maintenance problems leading to mechanical breakdown, exacerbated by the same heat and humidity that makes it so miserable for the sheep. Just lucky that it broke down each time empty and near Fremantle port. 

Its no secret that the live export fleet is the one of the oldest and worst maintained shipping fleet in the world. Australia is lucky it has AMSA. There is no such luck for animals or crew trading out of other countries. However even AMSA failed to detect the magnitude of serious problems in the Barkly Pearl before a hull plate loss led to a detailed close inspection in port. Bloomberg noted that the emails  that they had unearthed had not been supplied to the Panama investigation of the sinking by the shipping companies involved.The murky world of live export shipping just exacerbates the murky non-transparent nature of the whole live export trade.

See also the Bloomberg video - which shows the email - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-10-07/a-dangerous-corner-of-the-global-shipping-industry-video. 
Note: the Bloomberg article: (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-08/gulf-livestock-1-tragedy-leaves-brutal-legacy-on-overseas-animal-trade) is only available by subscription and contains extra and complimentary information to that in the video.

See also: https://www.vale.org.au/blog/gulf-livestock-1-owner-likely-insolvent-when-ship-sunk
See also: https://www.vale.org.au/blog/archives/03-2023
See also: ATSB incident report filed under Communication, maintenance practices highlighted in Fremantle ship power loss.
See also: https://www.animal-welfare-foundation.org/files/downloads/Report_64-livestock_AWF_RobindesBois_FINAL_March24-BD.pdf