Animal advocates have called for thousands of sheep and cattle to be unloaded from a stranded live export ship after reports some of the livestock has died.

February 5, 2024

A month after a stranded live export ship loaded thousands of sheep and cattle aboard, animal advocates have called for all the animals to be unloaded following reports some have died.

About 16,500 livestock were packed onto the MV Bahijah on January 5, when it sailed for the Middle East from Fremantle before being ordered to abandon its voyage due to Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.

Except for a couple of hundred head of cattle unloaded on Friday, they have remained on the vessel since it returned to Australian waters, sparking fears for the welfare of the animals as authorities consider an application to send them on another even longer journey for export.

RSPCA WA said it was worried by the animal deaths aboard the MV Bahijah, which the society said included sheep and some of the cattle unloaded on Friday.

Chief executive Ben Cave said the lack of information from the exporter and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was also concerning.

He said the animals had been “crammed” aboard the ship in “lurching and rolling” seas while standing in their own waste for a month.

“And still no word on whether these thousands of sheep and an unknown number of cattle will be subjected to another month-long journey if the exporter’s request to re-export them to the Middle East is approved,” Mr Cave said.

The society urged authorities to remove all the livestock from the MV Bahijah to protect their health.

“This ship has been back in Fremantle for a week now – when will a decision be made to allow these animals to be unloaded and processed humanely onshore?” he said.

Premier Roger Cook said the reports of animals dying aboard the MV Bahijah were concerning.

“We understand that there continues to be challenges in relation to the welfare of the animals onboard that vessel,” he said.

“A couple of the cattle have passed away so obviously this is a situation which is very concerning.”

He urged the agriculture department to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

The department on Sunday said it continued to assess the exporter’s application to send the remaining animals on a second journey to the Middle East.

If the animals are re-exported they are likely to be at sea for another month as the MV Bahijah sails around Africa to access Jordan via the Suez Canal and avoid the Middle East conflict zone.