One of the livestock ships that was around is the 1986 built 149 metre long AL MAHMOUD 2 now trading as POLARIS 2. She was built in Japan by Shin Kurushima Onishi Shipyard at Imabari as the car carrier TOUKO MARU trading until April 1996; FUJIMARIN from 1996 to 2003; FUJIMARINE from 2003 to 2009.
She was acquired in 2009 of which she was converted into the cattle carrier AL MAHMOUD 2. While conversion was being carried out at a Beirut Yard, Lebanon on 6th July, 2010, a fire broke out after a generator was overheated and set a tank with diesel fuel alight with 6 fire engines needed one hour to tackle the flames. In October 2012 she was renamed POLARIS 2.
As POLARIS 2 various issues arose including that in 2016 a veterinary inspection found that at least 300 cattle had died, out of several thousand. The dead cattle were thrown overboard on the way from Canary Islands to Gibraltar. Also back to 2015 carrying thousands of heifers from Chile to China she has been forced back into international waters after she tried to enter Fiji claiming to be low on fuel, water and fodder reserves – https://www.beefcentral.com/live-export/chilean-cattle-ship-refused-entry-to-fiji/
She’s still trading and currently off Cartagena, Spain.
All images back to 6th March, 2011 during bunkering operations at Bunkering Area 4.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Thursday 14th May, 2020.