News

First Aust sheep ship at lower stocking rate in Middle East + VIDEOS

Terry Sim, May 15, 2018

THE first live sheep export vessel to load from Australia under temporary stocking density restrictions for Middle East shipments has reported a mortality rate of 0.25 percent on reaching Kuwait in the Arabian Gulf.

Emanuel Exports director Nick Daws said the Al Messilah arrived in Kuwait on Monday where it unloaded 24,000 sheep for Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading.

The KLTT-owned vessel is scheduled to arrive mid-week in Qatar, where it will deliver 35,000 sheep for Widam Food, with the final 7000 sheep to be unloaded in the United Arab Emirates for KLTT.

“A total of 65,344 sheep was loaded on to the Al Messilah at Fremantle at 17.5pc lighter than the regulatory stocking requirement and accompanied by a Federal Government observer,” Mr Daws said.

“On approach to Kuwait after a fortnight at sea, the Australian Government Accredited Veterinarian on board reports there have been 164 sheep mortalities, including 10 sheep which were euthanized.

“This represents a current sheep mortality rate of 0.25 percent,” Mr Daws said.

“There have been zero mortalities among the 228 cattle on board.”

Mr Daws said the Al Messilah is expected back in Australian waters by early June. The Al Messilah’s KLTT sister vessel, the Al Shuwaik, is due to sail from Fremantle early this week where it has taken on 12,000 sheep in addition to the 57,000 sheep it loaded at Port Adelaide late last week.

Statistics for the MV Maysora which left Fremantle for Turkey in mid-April with 73,836 sheep and 8104 cattle on board, show that the sheep mortality rate was 0.42pc (315 head) and nine cattle died, giving a mortality rate of 0.11pc. The Maysora was not loaded at the 17.5pc stocking density reduction for Middle East shipments, which was enforced when the Federal Government’s McCarthy Review into the live sheep trade commenced in April. The review’s recommendations will be announced in Canberra at 9am tomorrow morning.

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Comments

  1. Glenn Nix, May 16, 2018

    So Jan, you believed what some random bloke shot last year, but don’t want to believe this one? Is ‘independent’ code for some radical vegan activist who would not be happy with no deaths? The 164 over the side of fully bio-degradable meat and skin and guts is fish food; got to be better then all the plastic. This is a good result and shows extra effort can achieve better results.

  2. Jan Kendall, May 15, 2018

    I don’t trust these films. The Federal government observer is not independent. The Department of Agriculture has not regulated or sanctioned this industry in the past. The 164 sheep were flung overboard, I presume, polluting the ocean. What did they die from? That is a lot of dead sheep. It is too many. If the live exporters what to be believed, they should let RSPCA observers on board; then the Australian public might believe this footage is a true reflection on what happened on board.

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