Islamabad
Of all the millions of tonnes of cargo that’s piled up in the Suez Canal, none is more delicate than the animals crammed into the hulls of several of the ships, as at least 14 vessels stuck in and around the canal could be carrying 92,000 of livestock.
Bob Bishop, President of the Livestock Exporters Association of the USA, said a US shipment of dairy cattle left the Texas port of Galveston late last year en route to Pakistan via the Suez.
According to Bishop, another recent shipment of US cattle sailed from the West Coast to Pakistan, avoiding the Suez because of tolls, he said.
“After this container ship, you might see more and more of that,” he said. He said that mortality rates for livestock are generally no higher at sea than on land, with most ships having a veterinarian.
Cattle can also be transported by sea, and ships would generally have at least two or three days’ worth of extra hay or feed on board, said Bishop. —TLTP
