The Guardian reported on 16.8.25 that Jordan and Israel have suffered through their hottest nights on record, with nocturnal temperatures in the Levant well above levels that scientists consider “hellish”. Daytime temperatures also reached deadly peaks, with highs of close to 50C in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Israel Meteorological Service said the highest temperature recorded on Wednesday was 49.7C in Gilgal kibbutz, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, setting a historical record in the Jordan Valley.Aqaba, a port on the Red Sea, broke Jordan’s national heat record with a daytime maximum of 49.6C.
The article goes on to discuss the fact that heatwaves have grown hotter, longer and more common with climate change. 
Lucky we dont send sheep to the northern hemisphere summer any more but one could ask how a shipment of dairy cows is faring for the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to ....Malta (refueling) ...and then where? What on earth was DAFF thinking sending dairy cows from Portland on 6.8? And where are these dairy cows going? For what it is worth, they are currently rounding the Cape....22 days on board and many more to go. 

Horizon Ship Brokers have listed the Al Messilah for sale. This old ship, built 1980, has been an industry mainstay out of Fremantle (and formerly Adelaide), carting shipload after shipload of sheep  across the Equator to the Middle East for decades. The export industry claimed high welfare standards on this ship  despite multiple high mortality events and a mortality rate that plummeted after the sheep were finally given more space and not permitted to sail to the Middle Eastern summer (post the Awassi Express expose). Only the sheep could know the suffering endured on this vessel but we have a fair idea. Good riddance Al Messilah.

See: https://horizonship.com/ship/185m-livestock-carrier-for-80250-sheep-and-1107-cattle-of-400-kg/

ESCAS was set up to ensure that animals in the export chain had animal welfare protection throughout. It is not monitored by government and nor is it subject to independent audits. The only requirements are that the exporters apply, say it is OK (ie have table and knife, and sign the document)  and Dept stamps it. The Dept says that there are chronic issues at a low level but there is no scientific basis for that comment as no-one is performing audits. The low level is because they are rarely exposed. When AA turns up with their covert surveillance in the Middle East, they have near 100% success rate in detecting unequivocal ESCAS failure and abuse. Given that no-one else is auditing, and that exporters rarely self-report, that figure actually represents an extraordinarily high rate of ESCAS non-compliance. 

Thus it was no surprise that The Guardian reports that exported Australian sheep have  again  been  mistreated at a Middle Eastern abattoir – the sixth investigation involving sheep shipped by Perth-based exporter Livestock Shipping services in seven years and the second time for the Hijazi & Ghosheh slaughterhouse near Amman in Jordan. In July 2021, shipping of Australian animals to another Hijazi & Ghosheh-owned slaughterhouse in Jordan was permanently suspended, following similar breaches of welfare rules. And in 2023, an undercover investigation by Animals Australia alleged that Australian sheep exported to Oman by LSS had been sold outside approved supply chains, with the investigation still not finalised in 2025. So, as usual the Dept does nothing, the industry doesnt care because they know the Dept will do nothing  and CEO of ALEC Mark Harvey Sutton trivialises the breaches which as "minor and corrective". 2028 cannot come too soon. 

See: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/09/serious-animal-welfare-concerns-australian-authorities-investigate-alleged-breach-of-livestock-export-rules

Labour MP Rachel Boyack questioned Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard about live export at sea. If this were a comedy skit it would be funny. If it were a critique on political performance it would be damning. But as an insight into how clueless and ill prepared Andrew Hoggard and the NZ Govt are for the resumption of their live export with gold-plated animal welfare, it is frankly unbelievable. Rachel Boyacks face probably really did say it all.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1390706952010035

With the Australian Federal election tomorrow, check Where do the parties stand on animal welfare this election?

Dr Bidda Jones' opinion piece in the Canberra Times obviously really irritated the live export industry CEO Mark Harvey Sutton. He lashed right back with an op ed titled "Modern Aussies Can Support Live Export". Tragically he either has no idea about the industry's shipping history or didnt check which image the paper was going to publish along side his portrait. The shonky ship pictured in this article of modernity is the Barkly Pearl, famous for losing a steel plate from its hull near Geraldton in 2020, being seized by AMSA and then banished from Australia for a minimum of 2 years....it has never been back to Australia (or Fremantle).
AMSA stated "This is a significant decision by AMSA.  It’s the first time a vessel has been banned from Australian ports for this length of time and it will certainly affect the vessel’s commercial operations... The owners and operators of the Barkly Pearl were negligent in their maintenance of the vessel, put the lives of the seafarers on board at risk and posed an immediate threat to Australia’s marine environment."
Go the live ex industry...and your progressive modernity!

The Gelbray Express, which left Fremantle on 15.1.25 (over a month ago), now shows Haifa as its destination - yep the Dept is allowing the long haul voyages around the Cape to Israel again despite the previous Bahijah fiasco in 2024. It is unlikely that there is an independent observer onboard.

With Beef Central noting not enough ships for the northern cattle trade, it seemed timely to point out that suggestions for a Moroccan trade would also be a pipe-dream. Sheep Central ran some of VALE's comments none of which ALEC meaningfully rejected. Rubbishing VALE as an organisation was the best they could come up with.
But, even better, the article states that AMSA has confirmed there are now only 20 ships certified to carry livestock (ie with ACCL). When VALE checked with AMSA in November 2024, that number was 23.....so 33 in 2015, 32 five years ago, 23 three months ago and now 20...... The proof of the pudding?

Beef Central has also run another article today also on the lack of ship availability confirming only 20 ships with a current ACCL.

 In Brazil, the situation has been a long and complex. The case began in 2017, following reports of severe animal welfare violations during live cattle exports. In December 2017, the Fórum Nacional de Proteção e Defesa Animal filed a public civil action (ACP) requesting an immediate ban on live exports.

In February 2018, a first-instance judge issued a preliminary injunction (liminar) prohibiting a specific shipment of 25,000 cattle aboard the MV Nada from the Port of Santos. This decision included requirements for inspections and welfare assessments. However, within days, the injunction was suspended by an appellate court during judicial recess, allowing the shipment to proceed. In May 2019, the preliminary injunction was definitively suspended pending the outcome of the case, and exports continued under Brazil’s existing regulations.

The landmark first-instance decision came in April 2023, when the 25th Federal Court of São Paulo ruled to prohibit live cattle exports by sea across Brazil, citing violations of animal welfare laws and the inherent cruelty of the practice. This decision was celebrated as a historic milestone in animal law. However, the federal government immediately appealed, which has delayed its enforcement.

The case is now under review at the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3), with a panel of three judges presiding. The appellate process began in late 2024, and thus far, only the rapporteur (relator) has voted. Unfortunately, the rapporteur ruled against upholding the prohibition, citing economic impacts and the supposed sufficiency of existing regulations—arguments that disregard the dire animal welfare issues and the inadequacy of enforcement mechanisms. The case was temporarily suspended after another judge requested further review ("pedido de vistas").

The next hearing is reportedly scheduled for February 19, 2025, when the remaining judges will deliver their votes. It is hoped that the unregulated nature of the live ex trade from Brazil will be appropriately assessed and the original decision upheld.