The MV Bahijah livestock carrier bound for Israel from Australia has been cleared to re-export livestock consisting of 16 000 animals via the Cape of Good Hope after its previous attempt on 5 January 2024.
This follows after an Israel-based company was given permission on Friday to ‘re-export the thousands of sheep and cattle’, which were stranded for more than a month off the coast of Western Australia due to ‘global shipping problems’, according to 9News.
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The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry had previously blocked a bid by Israel-based company Bassem Dabbah to ‘send the 2000-odd cattle and 14,000 sheep the long way around’ the Cape of Good Hope route, as reported on 5 February 2024.
The reason, according to the department, was that it wasn’t satisfied with ‘the arrangements would ensure the animals’ health and welfare’.
As reported by Splash247, the choice to avoid the Red Sea route stems from ‘the danger of Houthi attacks’, which was the initial reason the MV Bahijah was ordered back on its first attempt.
Houthi rebels are known to attack ‘commercial shipping linked to Israel and the US’ in the Red Sea, which complicates exports to the Israeli market.
The sequence of events wasn’t without criticism from the Animal Justice Party (AJP) of Australia, as ‘around 50 protestors’ took action in Fremantle on Saturday, 2 March, where they demanded an end to live exports.
The Israeli animal rights groups Let Animals Live and Animals Now also previously called for their government to ‘block the transport’.
On the first attempt to reach Israel, the ship returned to Australia on 14 February with a total of 81 animals that had died.
Sixty-four sheep and four cattle died while on board the ship, while six sheep and seven cattle died on land.
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Picture: Pexels / Sascha Hormel