News: AMSA focused inspection campaign (FIC) on livestock ships (1 March - 31 August 2021)

Ship owners with livestock carriers calling at Australian ports are recommended to refer to the recent Marine Notice 1/2021 issued by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) on the Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) that will be conducted from 1 March 2021 to 31 August 2021.

This FIC will be undertaken in conjunction with normal Port State Control (PSC) inspections, and will look closely at:

• the maintenance and repair requirements of livestock ships in relation to International Conventions.
• the ships crews’ familiarity with determining the ship’s stability,
• the use of accurate information for the livestock cargo carried when calculating stability,
• check that livestock ships operating from Australia continue to comply with the specific requirements of Marine Order 43—Cargo and cargo handling—livestock.

AMSA has provided a checklist that will be followed by inspectors when inspecting ships as part of this FIC. There are two parts to this FIC checklist:

The first part relates to Marine Order 43 specific requirements. These are Australia’s national requirements. Any deficiencies found that relate directly to Marine Order 43 will be recorded on the record of the inspection form (SV-CC).

The second part of the FIC relates to International Convention requirements. Any deficiencies will be recorded as part of normal PSC practices.

AMSA encourages ship owners and masters to familiarise themselves with the maintenance requirements of their vessel, and the requirements of Marine Order 43 for the carriage of livestock from Australia.