A MASSIVE 13,218 head of cattle were shipped from Broome last week – believed to be the second largest shipment to leave from the port.
The cattle were loaded onto Wellard’s MV Ocean Drover before heading to Darwin to pick up the remaining cattle to complete the capacity 17,000 shipment to Indonesia.
Kimberley Port Authority chief executive Kevin Schellack said the biggest shipment to leave the Broome Port was in 2014 when 16,000 head of cattle boarded the Awassi Express – owned by Al Khalaf Trading & Transportation of Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
However, last week’s shipment was “the largest load this year,” Mr Schellack said.
He said the port had seen 21 vessels this year and was expecting that to rise to 24-25 by the end of the cattle export season, which finishes in early November.
“We have two more 3000 head scheduled for October 5 and 16,” he said.
Mr Schellack said the port had put through 82,000 head of cattle for the season and was hoping for about 100,000.
“Last year we had 91,000 - and with another 6000 to be loaded in the next two weeks it is not too late for cattle numbers to be up to expectations,” he said.
Mr Schellack said considering the late start to the season the cattle numbers were “picking up quite well”.
He said the size of the vessels dictated the speed of loading with the average loading per vessel this year at 3500-4000 head at a rate of 482 head per hour.
The MV Ocean Drover however exceeded that to a rate of 677 head per hour - which meant it took 19.5 hours to load the 13,218 head of cattle.
“That’s our best loading rate,” Mr Shellack said.
“Broome has most likely the fastest loading rate in Australia.”
Mr Schellack said despite the speed of loading with a single loading point the port was looking at Port Hedland’s new two level loader which they recently purchased for about $400,000.
He said they were evaluating whether or not a similar system would benefit the Broome Port and improve loading speed.
Wellard chief operating officer Brad Gosling said, “We think it’s Wellard’s largest shipment out of Broome”.
“They’re good quality pastoral cattle, weighing an average of 328 kilograms which is a good weight for our Indonesian customers who want to feedlot them for 90-100 days before processing,” Mr Gosling said.
“The bulk of the cattle were sourced by Elders in Broome and they did an excellent job securing some large drafts of good quality cattle.
“The staff at Roebuck, the stevedores at the port and our land-based staff and ship-based crew worked tirelessly so that we could get the vessel into port and loaded with such a large number of cattle smoothly and efficiently.
“Even though we’re getting to the end of the mustering season there’s still some reasonable numbers of cattle around, which is why we were able to load more cattle in Broome than we have for a long time.”
Elders Broome livestock cattle specialist Kelvin Hancey said the shipment was a “win, win for everyone involved”.
“It was the biggest shipment of live cattle out of Broome that I have ever been involved with,” Mr Hancey said.
“It’s a strong outcome for WA producers.”
Mr Hancey said Elders provided 90 per cent of the cattle from Newman to Port Hedland to Halls Creek.
He said the cattle had been purchased by seven different buyers in Indonesia, which allowed the shipment to include several weight categories including medium to high grade, which provided producers the ability to unload a lot of stock at once.
“It was a great opportunity for vendors to sell complete sale loads in one purchase,” he said.
“One client provided 4000 head, while two others had 2000 each.
“The cattle were all loaded within 20 hours and credit must be given in all fairness to the depot and staff as things were done very professionally.”
Mr Hancey was anticipating one more shipment in the near future.
He said the experience showed the importance for all parties to work closely for the benefit of all.
Landmark Broome livestock agent Todd Walsh said they were also able to provide some of the cattle for the shipment, and everything worked out well.
