ASX-listed agribusiness Wellard Limited is looking to add a new live export ship to its fleet.
Called the Ocean Jillaroo, Wellard says it will cost about $US60 million to build and will be the world's first live export ship capable of running on green technologies, including "autonomous sails to reduce pollution by up to 40 per cent".
But Wellard executive chairman John Klepec said the project was on hold.
"All the shipyards in the world are at capacity and forward booked for months, mostly building container ships," he told ABC Rural.
"So there's just not the appetite for a one-off, bespoke product like a livestock carrier."
Mr Klepec said other supply chain issues and the soaring cost of steel had made the project commercially challenging.
"So we continue to monitor the situation with both the commissioning of construction and developing an appropriate funding mechanism," he said.
Live exports, ageing fleet
According to Mr Klepec, the last purpose-built livestock carrier was the Aurochs in 2017 and Wellard's Ocean Shearer built in 2016.
"To my knowledge there is no-one else in the market currently looking to build a [live export] ship," he said.
"So it's been [nearly] six years since a new live export ship was built and it might take another two years for the next one.
"It means whoever builds a new ship will be in a very good position in 10 years time because they'll be running an efficient ship with the right fuel and very limited competition."
He said the age of livestock carriers across the world was "excessively high".
"It's the second-oldest fleet in the world and the average age of livestock carriers is over double that of container ships," Mr Klepec said.
"There are many ships out there that don't come to Australia because they're not AMSA [Australian Maritime Safety Authority] approved and, quite frankly, should be on the beach cut-up."
It is understood there are about 125 livestock vessels in the world, but according to AMSA only 25 are accredited to carry livestock from Australia.
Call for international reform
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting presentation, Mr Klepec called for global shipping standards to be reformed, citing the sinking of livestock vessel, Al Badr 1, in Sudan this year that killed 15,000 sheep.
"Incredibly, that vessel was 49 years old, yet it was able to load the most sensitive of cargo," he said.
"It was as tragic as it was preventable … and it adds to a long list of substandard livestock vessels which have sunk."
The company said it was a "travesty" that there were no intentional regulations governing the operation of livestock vessels.
"It is abundantly clear that the lack of specific regulation for this sector has been an enabler of poor vessel design and operation," Mr Klepec said.
"It is time for the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to act and right these wrongs."
Mr Klepec said the company was confident about the future of Australia's live cattle trade.
"Although cattle markets into Indonesia and Vietnam are pretty bad at the moment, we're optimistic about the future for the industry," he said.
"We foresee a return to volumes and, when that happens, we intend to be the major operator from Australia into those markets."
