Finding a solution to the backlog of livestock

A working group (made up of members from Chatham Islands Council, Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust, Chatham Islands Shipping, Ministry of Transport, the Ministry for Primary Industries, and local farmers) has been established to find an urgent solution to the backlog of livestock on the Islands.

Options currently being investigated include:

• The use of stock crates or specially made stock containers, to either be used on the Southern Tiare (when it returns to service) or on another container ship
• Chartering a livestock vessel from Australia if one is available
• Using an existing passenger ferry and/or container ship to load livestock via barge and stock trucks.

If a suitable option is found, the working group will work with Chatham Islands farmers on the logistics of getting livestock to the vessel.