The federal government has rejected an application to send a stranded live export ship with thousands of sheep and cattle on board back to the Middle East.

February 5, 2024

A stranded live export ship that has had thousands of sheep and cattle on board for a month will not be allowed to return to the Middle East with the animals.

About 16,500 livestock have been packed aboard the MV Bahijah since January 5, when it sailed for the Middle East from Perth’s 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, the animals have remained on the vessel since it returned to Australian waters, sparking fears for their welfare as authorities considered an application to send them on another – even longer – journey for export.

On Monday, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry announced it had rejected the exporter’s request to send the livestock back to the Middle East.

“The application submitted on 26 January 2024 for the re-export of livestock onboard the MV Bahijah to Israel via the Cape of Good Hope has not been approved by my department,” department secretary Adam Fennessy told reporters in Canberra.

The department said it was continuing to work with relevant stakeholders to manage the health and welfare of the livestock and uphold Australia’s biosecurity.

“The next steps for the livestock onboard the vessel are commercial decisions for the exporter to make,” Mr Fennessy said.

A number of animals onboard the MV Bahijah have reportedly died, including some of the cattle offloaded on Friday, according to RSPCA WA.

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

The animal protection society had rged 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?” Mr Cave said.

If the animals had been re-exported they were likely to have been at sea for another month as the MV Bahijah sailed around Africa to access Israel via the Suez Canal and avoid the Middle East conflict zone.