The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is conducting an inspection of the Marshall Islands-flagged livestock carrier Barkly Pearl after the ship was found to have extensive damage to its starboard side earlier this week off Western Australia, a spokesperson for the agency said on Thursday, November 5.
Barkly Pearl is alongside at the Port of Geraldton where it is currently detained by both AMSA as the port of arrival authority, and the Marshall Islands as its flag authority.
Inspectors from both AMSA and the Marshall Islands are attending the ship. AMSA inspectors boarded the ship on Thursday to conduct an inspection which is expected to take a number of days to complete due to its complex, technical nature.
Barkly Pearl was brought to the Port of Geraldton earlier this week after it was sighted some 120 kilometres off the coast with a noticeable list to port due to the damage it had sustained.
Mark Morrow, AMSA general manager of response, had earlier said that the ship was originally planned to sail to Indonesia.
