A holed and listing livestock carrier has been brought safely into port in Australia.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the 3,300-dwt Marshall Islands-flagged Barkly Pearl (built 1993) sustained damage to its hull and was 120km north of Geraldton en route from Fremantle when the authority became involved on Monday night.
Video footage showed a large hole in the side of the ship stretching below the water line, and an alarming list.
AMSA sent its Challenger search and rescue jet to fly over the vessel and it was able to confirm damage to the starboard side.
All crew were safe and well, while no animals were on board.
Safety concerns
AMSA general manager of response Mark Morrow said there were significant concerns for the integrity of the vessel and its ability to safely reach Indonesia, its planned destination.
"As a result, AMSA issued a direction for the vessel to make its way to safety in the Port of Geraldton," he added.
Owner Drako Shipping of Singapore could not immediately be contacted.
Insurance cover is listed as provided by Shipowners Mutual.
The vessel's last port state control detention was in 2015.
The incident brings safety concerns over livestock ships to the fore again.
In September, 40 seafarers died when a Gulf Navigation Holding livestock carrier sank off Japan, the highest single loss of life in a merchant shipping accident in just over a decade.
The 8,400-dwt Gulf Livestock 1 (built 2002) was caught in Typhoon Maysak.
The only comparable accident in terms of loss of life was in 2009 when 44 seafarers perished during the sinking of the 14,823-dwt Danny F II (built 1976) — also a livestock carrier — off the coast of Lebanon. Both ships were conversions.
