Report 249: MV Al Messilah

Livestock: 57,957 Sheep

Vessel: MV Al Messilah

Loading location and date: Fremantle, 08 March 2025

Vessel departure location and date: Fremantle, 09 March 2025

Discharge location and dates: 

• Shuwaikh, Kuwait, from 25 March 2025 to 27 March 2025
• Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from 29 March 2025 to 30 March 2025
• Hamad, Qatar, 31 March 2025
• Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, from 02 April 2025 to 03 April 2025
• Muscat, Oman, 04 April 2025

Voyage length: 28 days

Independent Observer: Boarded at Fremantle and remained onboard until completion of discharge.

Voyage mortality rate: Voyage mortality rate: 0.15% (86 mortalities). These mortalities are unlikely to be linked to any systemic failure by the exporter.

Notifiable mortality rate: 1%

This report summarises key observations of the implementation and effectiveness of exporter arrangements to ensure the health and welfare of livestock. The report has been approved by the observer who accompanied the voyage.

Exporter documentation

The observer reported no issues regarding exporter documentation.

Loading

The observer identified that:

1. A pen on deck 11 holding 83 sheep, was overstocked by 3 sheep. The observer alerted the accredited veterinarian (AAV) and accredited stockperson to this overstocking, who immediately addressed this pen density issue. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the temporary overstocking.

Other than the issues relating to stocking density, based on observations made, the exporter arrangements relating to loading were appropriate and effective in managing livestock health and welfare.

Personnel

Based on observations made during this voyage, the exporter arrangements relating to personnel were appropriate and effective in managing livestock health and welfare.

Daily routine

Based on observations made during this voyage, the exporter arrangements relating to daily routine were appropriate and effective in managing livestock health and welfare.

Feed and water

The observer noted that:

1. On day 4, water system repairs occurred on decks 7, 10 and 11. Crew were observed to manually refill water troughs as required to maintain ad libitum access to water and there were no adverse effects on animal health and welfare observed.
2. In nearly all troughs on all decks, feed pellets had broken down into fines (fodder dust). The percentage of fines in each trough was between 5-20% in general with the lower decks seemingly more affected with fines up to 30% in the troughs. Crew members were observed to regularly clean out feed troughs as part of their deck duties, scooping away any pellet fines, chaff or sawdust particles. These management strategies improved, but did not resolve the issue for the duration of the voyage. However, the observer reported that the livestock were still interested in the feed and there were no adverse effects on animal health and welfare observed.

Ventilation

Based on observations made during this voyage, the exporter arrangements relating to ventilation were appropriate and effective in managing livestock health and welfare.

The observer noted that:

1. On day 3, the voyage’s highest wet bulb temperature of 31.75°C was recorded at approximately 7:00 am on deck 2. The decks cooled below this temperature after 20 minutes. There were no livestock observed as heat stressed during this time or for the duration of the voyage.
2. From day 10, the observer identified that a small number of auxiliary ceiling and smaller fans were not working across multiple decks. These fans were in addition to the required ventilation system and are not included in the Record of Equipment under Marine Order 43. The malfunction was reported to the Chief Officer when identified. A fan on deck 3 was fixed within 3 days while others remained inoperable for the remainder of the voyage. One broken fan on deck 6 was near to pens in a perceived hot spot adjacent to the engine wall. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a direct result of the inoperable fans on livestock decks through the voyage.
3. During the equatorial crossing, which occurred between days 8 and 12, there were periods of up to 8 hours in which 20-30% of the sheep were observed to be mildly heat affected but not heat stressed. By day 13, the observer noted that the sheep pant scores began to reduce as the temperature lowered. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the temperatures on livestock decks through the voyage.

Pen conditions

The observer noted that:

1. On day 8, gates had been left half-opened between two pens. The observer mentioned this finding in the vessel’s daily meeting. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of half-opened gates.
2. On day 14, there was a hole approximately 4cm in diameter in the pen flooring on deck 9. The observer notified the stockperson who immediately directed a crew member to obtain a plate to temporarily cover the hole until it could be permanently repaired. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the hole in the floor.
3. During their morning observations on day 15, there were two pens with overflowing water troughs on deck 5. The overflowing water was mainly localised to the walkways around the pens. The observer notified a crew member who immediately turned off the water tap to the affected troughs and applied sawdust in affected pens and laneways. The observer noted that this was the usual approach that crew members took when water troughs were overflowing. After approximately 15 to 30 minutes the taps would then be turned on again. The observer reported that there was always water readily available to the animals while the tap was off and the actions taken by crew were effective in maintaining adequate pad conditions for sheep. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the overflowing water troughs.
4. On day 15, there was a water leak on deck 11 from pipes in the roof into the sheep pen. Spare troughs were positioned by crew to catch the leaking water. The Chief Officer advised the observer that this leak had been reported, and that repairs would occur. The observer reported that the water leak had stopped later that day. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the leaking water pipe.

Health and welfare

No systemic issues were observed.

The observer noted that:

1. Some pens on all decks had an additional steel rail placed on the bottom of the fencing. The observer noted that some sheep would relax with their legs protruding from under the rails and, if these sheep were startled, they would jump up suddenly and injure themselves. In some cases, this injury resulted in a broken limb leading to the animal being euthanised by the AAV.
2. On day 4, a hot water pipe above a pen on deck 11 was leaking with a paint tin collecting the water. This was reported to the Chief Officer. In the following days, the crew attempted repairs and redirected the water into a drum outside of the pen. This action was effective in maintaining adequate pad conditions for the sheep. By day 8, the observer had been told that the pipe could not be repaired. The observer reported that later that afternoon, all livestock were removed from this pen due to the potential health and welfare implications of this leak. No adverse effects on animal health and welfare were observed as a result of the leaking pipe.
3. From day 11 of the voyage, the AAV identified small numbers of sheep with scabby mouth. The sheep were segregated and treated, and no adverse effects on animal welfare was observed as a result of scabby mouth.

The AAV reported that:

4. On day 4 the vessel stopped for approximately 8 hours for repairs to the boiler. The AAV noted that this stop had no impact on livestock welfare.
5. Pink eye cases occurred on all decks. The AAV monitored animals with suspected pink eye and removed those that were more severely affected and placed them in the hospital pens for supportive care.
6. There were 63 treatments of sheep reported during the voyage for conditions including joint swelling, lameness and general malaise. A small number of sheep with scabby mouth were identified, segregated and treated.
7. A total of 86 mortalities occurred on this voyage. There were 36 mortalities attributed to ill-thrift or shy feeding with other causes including respiratory disease, parasites and joint infection. The AAV euthanised 12 animals for broken limbs and attributed 4 of these to injuries sustained from pen rails.
8. Post mortems were performed by the AAV for 33 mortalities, The AAV reported that 10 post mortems were unable to be performed as they were autolysed, 25 as they were in a special area, 11 due to proximity to shore and 17 were not necessary as they had been euthanised for known reasons.

Discharge

The observer reported that:

1. On day 16, the vessel was anchored outside of Dammam port for approximately 48 hours as the port was closed due to high winds and choppy seas. Due to these weather conditions, the observer reported that the master decided to sail to Kuwait instead and discharge there first.
2. On day 19 during discharge in Kuwait, a gate had been tied too tightly on deck 7 causing a bottleneck to the flow of discharging sheep. The observer alerted the crew who halted discharging the sheep and altered the fence. The observer reported that this had a positive outcome for the discharging sheep and that no other animal welfare issues were identified during the onboard discharge process.

No regulatory action was taken for this voyage.