Australian ship with sheep still stranded

Speaking to Khaleej Times, the official denied reports published in an international daily yesterday that the stranded sheep in the Arabian Gulf may be given to Iraq. The newspaper also reported that the British troops may be ordered to unload the sheep consignment at the port of Umm Qasar in Iraq, hoping to end the outcry over the plight of the animals, which have been on a cargo ship for seven weeks.

Dismissing these reports as mere speculation, the official disclosed, LiveCorp jointly with other Australian authorities is still negotiating with a number of countries to facilitate a positive outcome. She also ruled out ‘euthanasia' or mercy killing for the 50,000 sheep, despite demands from several animal welfare groups in Australia and overseas.

"Even though LiveCorp and Australia does not have any commercial or legal rights to the sheep which belong to the Saudi importer, we take our moral and ethical responsibilities very seriously and are working very hard to assist the owner of the sheep find another market."

The official, however, refused to comment on the exact number of sheep deaths onboard so far. "There have been a few deaths," she said, and the necessary procedures to dispose of the dead animals as per the rules on board the ship has been carried out by the company. The official refused to say if the dead animals were dumped into the sea.

The ship's Dutch manager, Vroon. B.V., claimed on its web site: "The animals on our ships travel in greater comfort than human passengers in many others."

And after Cormo Express left Fremantle on August 5 with 57,937 sheep aboard, it was an apparently uneventful 16-day voyage to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. But on arrival, things started to go wrong with Saudi authorities who refused to unload the livestock claiming the animals were suffering from scabby mouth disease.

Saudi Arabia is one of Australia's most important livestock export destinations. Last year, it took a third of all sheep exported - 1.8 million head valued at $122 million. Under an agreed protocol between the two countries, a scabby mouth rate of less than 5 per cent was permissible.

The Saudi vet is believed to have found rates of up to 30 per cent in an initial inspection - an astonishing incidence that he later revised down to 6 per cent, or just above the limit. In reply, Cormo Express's on-board vet found a barely discernible rate of 0.35 per cent, but acceptance of the shipment was ruled out.

Now being at sea for over seven weeks, the surviving sheep on the MV Cormo Express are currently in the Arabian Sea finding a disembarking port.

The ship last took on feed at Fujairah port in the UAE but had refused unloading of these sheep due to Arab Gulf Cooperation Council agreements of ‘Unified Quarantine Establishment' stipulating that any livestock rejected by any Gulf country will automatically be rejected by all other member states.