Maritime interest in the shocking truths

3/8/2016

The maritime fraternity are increasingly interested in the issues of live export. It seems, that apart from recognising the unmistakable odour of livestock carriers on the high seas, the LE trade has been as much a mystery to them as it has been to animal welfare advocates, farmers, veterinarians and the Australian public.

This week Maritime Executive published an interview with VALE regarding an investigative report and analysis of the extreme heat stress mortality event on the Bader III (Voyage 46). Like many such events, it has taken time to investigate: government investigation reports, then FOI requests, then the correspondence with the government etc mean that any such investigations drag out over years. Despite careful analysis and persistence to try and ascertain what really happened on that voyage, we will never know as the government are certainly not telling us. However, we can guess what it was like with 4000 sheep dying of heat stress as co-incidentally, another maritime media, Splash published a very detailed and distressing description of "livestock cooked at sea" from experienced live export veterinarian, Lynn Simpson.

4 Comments

Patricia benzan

4/8/2016 12:07:30 pm

Well I spoke to a radio talk back show this morning and was told it was an 800 million a year industry and that all of these reports could be misleading and that we have the highest standards of animal welfare. I was left wondering whether he may not have had a financial interest or else the issue was a hot potato or else he was not seeing what was in front of him in photos. He said these countries wanted live animals due to their religious practices. I am so disappointed especially as he then added he loves animals. How do you work that out there

VALE

4/8/2016 12:34:12 pm

Hi Patricia,
Thanks for your comments. It is disappointing to hear this misinformation as it is quite incorrect on a number of fronts. The industry is now actually worth over a billion dollars a year but not worth anywhere near as much as the export meat industry (approximately 10 billion dollars annually). The Australian cattle trade is not for religious reasons. Meat from cattle to Indonesia and Vietnam etc go into wet markets - no religious issues there. Likewise no issue for religion in China or the Phillipines. The Middle East no longer has issues with refrigeration, or often religion.....they have huge supermarkets that sell meat that has been Halal slaughtered in Australia. Under ESCAS, even sheep that go to the Middle East have to be slaughtered in approved facilities and not just sold privately for religious slaughter (although we know ESCAS compliance issues are significant in the Middle East and other destinations).
We are surprised that you didnt also hear how good the modern ships were....so just if you hear that argument, check the list of major ships that leave southern Australian ports and when they were built:
Bader 1978, Ghena 1984, Al Messilah 1980, Al Shuwaikh 1986, Nada 1993. Hardly modern but definitely still sailing and some having high mortality events in the last 5 years.

Suzanne Cass

4/8/2016 02:10:06 pm

Patricia, the Bader III pretty much takes the case as oldest and worst at present, and it has been hanging around off the UAE since May with no sign of movement so maybe it will follow the Lincoln Express (ex Felicia) to Chittagong for scrapping. While there are five new ships on the line now, they are small and take usually only around 4,000-ish cattle - they do not replace the hulks like the Al Shuwaikh (1986), Al Messilah (1980), Maysora (1989), and the Ghena (1984), Even some of the slightly newer ones with open decks (Jawan, Rahmeh) are still graveyards for animals - especially at this time of year when they are being shipped from our cold winter to temperatures frequently at 50 degrees in the Middle East. There is NO safe or humane way of doing this even if the ships were the cruise liners that the industry claims - animals have to cope with heat exhaustion, unfamiliar food (and some don't) and being crammed in with unfamiliar animals (3 sheep per square metre is the standard), respiratory diseases and general trauma. If it must be done they must be slaughtered here and exported chilled/frozen. If these countries don't like it - well, too bad. They can just go without.

4/8/2016 02:10:56 pm

Patricia, the Bader III pretty much takes the cake as oldest and worst at present, and it has been hanging around off the UAE since May with no sign of movement so maybe it will follow the Lincoln Express (ex Felicia) to Chittagong for scrapping. While there are five new ships on the line now, they are small and take usually only around 4,000-ish cattle - they do not replace the hulks like the Al Shuwaikh (1986), Al Messilah (1980), Maysora (1989), and the Ghena (1984), Even some of the slightly newer ones with open decks (Jawan, Rahmeh) are still graveyards for animals - especially at this time of year when they are being shipped from our cold winter to temperatures frequently at 50 degrees in the Middle East. There is NO safe or humane way of doing this even if the ships were the cruise liners that the industry claims - animals have to cope with heat exhaustion, unfamiliar food (and some don't) and being crammed in with unfamiliar animals (3 sheep per square metre is the standard), respiratory diseases and general trauma. If it must be done they must be slaughtered here and exported chilled/frozen. If these countries don't like it - well, too bad. They can just go without.

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Maritime interest in the shocking truths

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