2 livestock transport ships lose department approval

Two ships used for the transportation of livestock from Ireland to foreign markets have recently had their approval withdrawn by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The two ships in question, the Atlantic M and Express 1, were used for transporting livestock to markets in Libya and Turkey.

A spokesperson from the department told AgriLand: “The department wrote to the owner/operator of the Atlantic M and the Express 1 regarding the department’s attention to revoke their approval under Article 4 (5) of Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 356.”

The spokesperson explained that: “A provision of the SI is that the performance level of the company operating must not be listed as low or very low on the performance tables of the Port State Control by the European Maritime Safety Agency.

“As per the SI, the operator was given 14 days to make representations. Following this period, the approval was subsequently revoked,” the spokesperson added.

Cherbourg

In other live export news, it was revealed last week that approval had been granted for the expansion of lairage facilities at the French port of Cherbourg.

The development will see the overall capacity in lairage space for calves increased by 600.

Speaking to AgriLand, a representative of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) confirmed that, as a result of the approval granted, one lairage operator in the French town will be able to accommodate an additional two trucks, or the equivalent of 600 calves.

This follows more than a year of discussions between IFA representatives and the two main lairage operators in Cherbourg regarding investing in additional facilities to accommodate more calves coming from Ireland.