PALE, that has little relevance to the issue, since live export activity happens under Federal provisions (and please learn to spell people's names when you use them - S P R I N G B O R G - and I'm not even in Queensland!)

This thread was about foreign flagged ships so far, apparently, escaping compliance with MARPOL pollution regulations.

I have now received a response from AMSA, which claims that the matter is continuing in the Federal Court, involving Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading ships run by RETWA - the "Al Messilah", the "Al Shuwaikh" and the "Al Kuwait", and possibly also the "Merino (aka Cormo) Express". However, since this court matter last October, those ships have returned to Australia (but not, I suspect, to transport cattle from Queensland!) any number of times. I am assured by AMSA in its letter, to which I have prepared a response, that "there has been no reduction in safety and environment protection standards applying to ships engaged in Australia's livestock export trade and that all ships are subject to regular inspection by AMSA ..."

Yeah, right. Perhaps that is why the ancient, and horrifically defective "Torrens" (aka "Farid F") continues to operate, as far as I have been able establish, out of Australia's lesser known ports carrying cattle.

Nicky