Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

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

By Doug Laing
Hawkes Bay Today·
8 Mar, 2022 11:33 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

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

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"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.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

Premium
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know
All Blacks

All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know

CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation
World

CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation

UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence
World

UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence

Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?
New Zealand

Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?

Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway
New Zealand

Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway

Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland
World

Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland



Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner
Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

His family say he will leave a legacy of kindness, and he was surrounded by it to the end.

18 Jul 07:18 PM
Premium
Premium
Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

18 Jul 07:00 PM
The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ
Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ

18 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search