Freight

HORSE SHIPMENTS

• Horses are shipped from King Island to Devonport or Devonport to King Island. Ship currently departs Devonport on a Monday and arrives King Island on a Tuesday.
• Bass Island Line does not ship horses from Melbourne.
• Horses are loaded ex-King Island on Tuesday. Customer must have paperwork with them.
• Horses must be booked in advance for loading and unloading purposes.
• Please note if your horse does not sail it will be a week wait until the next scheduled sailing.
• Customers must ring TasPorts on King Island 03 6461 1155 or Tas Cargo services 03 6432 2990 prior to the horse travelling to confirm the ship is taking horses and what time to deliver the horse to the wharf. Horses will only be shipped when the weather conditions are suitable.
• Empty Horse Floats must be at the Grassy wharf before 9 am on Tuesday.
• Customers must supply their own float. Customers who don’t have their own float can contact Tammy Muir, King Island on 0364 621 918.
• Freight is payable for each horse and the float must do a round trip. Payment must be made before the horse is shipped and can be Cash or EFTPOS. Cheques will not be accepted.
• The driver of the vehicle used to transport horses is responsible for assessing the fitness of the animals on the vehicle and to ensure compliance with transport welfare regulations to undertake the journey.
• The driver of the vehicle must complete a Livestock Declaration stating the horses are fit to travel in accordance with the regulations before a float will be shipped. The livestock declaration must be presented with a con note at the wharf when dropping off horses. The ship will not accept horses without the completed documentation. Horses cannot be off water/ feed for more than 24hrs. Actual on-water transit time between ports is approx. 15-17 hrs.
• All floats must be clean and free of dirt and weeds as floats can be quarantined by AQIS and incur a cleaning fee before being released.
• They must be in good condition and have a working jockey wheel. Unsafe floats will be rejected.
• Floats must be well ventilated, with only one horse per stall (no foals underfoot). For 2 horse floats (containing one or two adult horses) there must be secured openings for ventilation in the front and rear in the front of the float, each opening measuring at least 0.4 metres squared. For more than two horse in any other vehicle, the ventilation requirement is 0.5m squared opening per horse in opposing wall, or an open roof.
• Sedated horses are not permitted, unsettled or distressed horses will not shipped.
• Empty floats can be shipped to and from Melbourne.
• If a horse is cancelled after the empty float ships, standard wheeled rates will apply.
• No float will be shipped without prior payment.
• Laden horse floats will be charge at standard wheeled rates.
• Transfer of horses from float to float  is not permitted. Horses must  present in the float to be used for shipment. Transporters are urged to source an alternate location for float transfers.
• Collection of horses - it is the responsibility of the customer to provide a copy of the con note to the person collecting their horse. Customers should be ready and waiting the ships arrival to collect horses.
• The captain of the ship may at his discretion reject the shipment of horses based on sea conditions. Should a sailing cancellation occur, transporters will be required to collect the horse and re-deliver when required.
• If horses are travelling with TT Line they may have further requirements for horse transportation that you will receive at your time of booking.