A ship transporting 16,000 cattle and sheep that had been stranded off the coast of Australia for several weeks due to the ongoing Red Sea crisis has returned to a port in Perth.
Last month, the MV Bahijah abandoned its journey through the Red Sea, leaving the livestock stuck onboard the vessel. The livestock-transporting ship was originally scheduled to land in Israel when it set sail from Perth January 5, but the government requested that the ship return to Australia January 20 due to “exceptional circumstances.”
According to BBC News, the ship remained at sea for several weeks awaiting a decision from Australia as to whether or not the livestock could be offloaded due to biosecurity risks, officials said. At this time, it is still unclear whether the animals will be allowed to disembark from the ship.
Australia’s agriculture department said February 1 that veterinarians who examined the livestock found no “significant health, welfare or environmental” concerns with the animals.
The Australian government had previously emphasized that any livestock arriving in the country would face “strict biosecurity controls.”
In April 2023, New Zealand banned the live export of animals after a shipwreck led to the death of thousands of crows. Meanwhile, the Australian government has promised to outlaw the export of live sheep.
