'History of suffering': Livestock ship to berth in Napier

Live stock carrier Awassi Express berthed at Napier in early 2017. It returns on Saturday, now known as the Anna Marra. Photo / NZME

A ship once at the centre of a storm over livestock exporting from West Australia is expected to berth at Napier Port this week.

The Anna Marra was formerly the Awassi Express and, according to animal rights movement Safe (Save Animals From Exploitation) was implicated in a "live export disaster" of more than 60,000 sheep from Fremantle to Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE in August 2017.

Safe claimed 2400 died on the voyage, but the figure was never verified.

That same year the ship had been used to export 4500 holstein cattle on a 15-day voyage from Napier to China. Now it has approval from the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) for up to 10,000 head.

Manager of animal health and exports Carolyn Guy said a comprehensive risk assessment has been done for the export, and MPI is satisfied the exporter has measures in place to mitigate animal welfare risks.

The vessel, expected to face protests from animal welfare groups, will depart only when MPI veterinarians are satisfied with the loading and welfare of the animals on board, and the Animal Welfare Export Certificate has been issued, she said.

In relation to the 2017 export from Australia, its Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment stripped the exporter of its license, but the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided against a criminal prosecution, saying it "could not be satisfied that there were reasonable prospects of conviction of those alleged to have been involved".

Safe continues its campaign against live exporting. CEO Debra Ashton calls the now-Anna Marra a "death ship" with "a history of suffering".

"It's bad enough that the live export trade has grown over the past year, while the trade is meant to be winding down," she said.

She says cattle are being shipped to China in record numbers, quoting figures from the Ministry for Primary Industries she says show 134,722 cows were exported from New Zealand last year, compared with 109,921 in 2020 and 39,269 in 2019.

Guy confirmed exports of livestock by sea from New Zealand will stop on April 30 next year.

"We have been working with those exporters that are affected by the ban," she said.
"During the transition phase, MPI has made improvements to manage animal welfare risks, including the risk of mortalities on vessels during the phase-out period."

They include a new minimum body condition score for the cattle before pre-export isolation, and a minimum livestock weight of 200kg.

A Napier Port spokesperson says it expects any company exporting via Napier Port does so in line with the accepted practises and laws of NZ, with MPI and Maritime NZ playing key monitoring roles in livestock export.

"We understand that people feel strongly about this matter, and we support peoples' right to peaceful protest," they said. "But we also expect protesters will not compromise their own, or others, safety or breach our Customs-controlled international border."

Port security have in the past had to call in police because protesters were getting too close to trucks entering and leaving the main entrance.

The Anna Marra is scheduled to berth in Napier on Saturday afternoon and depart next Tuesday.