Andy Meddick, who was declared elected as an Upper House MP for Western Victoria on Tuesday, said the three unsuccessful efforts by the live cattle export ship, MV Jawan, to sail from Portland were an indictment of the AMSA’s abilities.

Mr Meddick said the ship should have been given “a complete overhaul” by the AMSA after the first incident last month when stability problems forced it to return to Portland.

Ongoing stability problems have since twice forced the ship to return to Portland after its subsequent efforts to undertake further voyages.

Mr Meddick said “it was clear the correct processes were not followed” after the first incident because the ship was continuing to experience stability problems.

“The same thing has occurred again,” he said.

Mr Meddick said the ship should not be allowed to leave Portland again without authorities knowing what was causing the stability problems when the ship was loaded.

“In any other industry that ship would have been torn to pieces to find out what went wrong, he said.

If the ship had encountered stormy seas, its stability problems could have led to the loss of lives, Mr Meddick said.

If there was a loss of life, criminal charges could be laid against whoever allegedly allowed such a tragedy to occur, he said.

“This ship should not be loaded again at all,” Mr Meddick said.

The ship was sailing under a foreign flag and “should be sent back to its home port and not be allowed to ply its trade in Australian waters ever again,” he said.

Mr Meddick also said the Animal Justice party was against the export of any live animals from any port in Australia. 

An AMSA spokesperson said on Thursday it was working with the federal agriculture department about unloading the livestock that were on board the MV Jawan for its third unsuccessful voyage from Portland this week.

“It is anticipated that unloading the cattle will commence in the coming days,” the spokesperson said. 

AMSA said it continued to detain the Jawan for being unseaworthy and the ship would not be permitted to sail until its stability issues were resolved and AMSA was satisfied it could safely depart without cargo.

“AMSA expects the vessel will be subject to a detailed examination by the classification society to resolve the issues.

“AMSA continues to work with the vessel’s operator, flag state and classification society to determine how the problems with the vessel’s stability issues have originated,” the spokesperson said.