Merino Express to be improved soon

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 1

Merino Express to be improved soon

Improvements ■MeHnb'yEipress;? the live' sheep carrier, would - be made Immediately, said the general manager of Animal Enterprises, Mr Don Tate. Mr Tate told “The Press” last evening that this week’s banning of further shipments until the improvements were made would only delay future sailings by two to three weeks. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Moyle, banned further shipments on Tuesday after receiving a veterinarian’s report. Improvements would have to be made in the ship’s ventilation and feeding systems before further shipments were made, he said. Mr Moyle said a death rate of 1 per cent would be more acceptable than

the 2.4 - per cent', death rate resulting from’ - the shipment to' Mexico. “There is no point in the Minister’s statement we are at issue with,” Mr Tate said. “It’s very much parallel to. our own thinking.” Company officials would meet Ministry staff on Monday to discuss the veterinarian’s report in more detail, Mr Tate said. Until then it would be difficult to say exactly what improvements were needed or how much they would cost. It was ultimately up to the ship’s owner, the European company, Dens Ocean, to decide if the improvements would be made. But Mr Tate said he had been in daily touch with the owner and had no worries. "They are always look-

tag to improve their per- !' formance.” * The Merino Express is 1 already in dry dock at 1 Wellington having repairs ; made. Mr Tate said this 1 was an opportune time to make the required im- , provements.; / ’ He emphasised that the : company had. always ini . tended to make necessary improvements, although this would have been done between shipments, not by stopping them altogether. Mr Tate said he agreed with the points made by Mr Moyle, although he expressed some reservation about the 1 per cent death rate. “It’s an extremely low rate. Whether we can achieve it with old ewes, only time will tell.”