A ship carrying thousands of livestock that has been stranded at sea for almost a month has finally docked in Australia, where welfare concerns mean some of the animals are expected to be offloaded.
About 16,500 sheep and cattle have been stowed on the MV Bahijah since Jan. 5, when it sailed for the Middle East from the western Australian port of Fremantle before it was ordered by the government, two weeks into its journey, to turnaround due to the ongoing Yemen Houthi rebels attacks in the Red Sea.
Since Monday the vessel had been sitting off the west Australian coast as concerns grew for the welfare of the animals on board. It finally docked at Fremantle on Thursday, 25 days after it had set off from the same port.
Authorities are now rushing to form contingency plans for how to safely offload and quarantine at least some of the livestock with heat wave condi-tions in the region adding to the challenge.
On Wednesday, authorities sent two veterinarians onto the vessel to inspect the animals, but they found no significant health or welfare issues among the livestock.—AFP
