A 5,000-head livestock carrier which was due to start shipping calves out of Waterford Port to the Netherlands this spring will now not operate on the route.

In a major blow to the Irish calf export trade, the owners of the MV Alondra said that Dutch calf importers were unable to get Irish exporters to agree to use the ship.

“The Dutch veal industry and ourselves terminated discussions because they were unable to get the Irish exporters to use the ship, the Alondra,” said Dave Geary of Limetree Global Shipping, a joint-owner of the vessel with Bjorn Claussen from Denmark. However, exporters claimed cost was a factor in their decision not to use the Alondra.

The ship was approved by the Department of Agriculture to take 5,000 calves per voyage and was expected to transport around 50,000 calves to the Netherlands this spring. The vessel will instead be based out of Foynes port from April and will be used to ship heavy cattle to Europe and the Middle East, Geary said.