At least 20 cattle ships captured in Suez Canal traffic jam | Animals

At least 20 of the boats delayed due to a crashed container ship in the Suez Canal are carrying livestock, according to marine tracking data, raising animal welfare concerns if the traffic jam continues.

The 220,000 tonnes Ever Given is the cause of the longest closure of the Suez Canal in decades with more than 200 ships estimated unable to pass and incoming ships diverting around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.

Georgios Hatzimanolis, spokesperson for the Marine Traffic tracking website, said that while some cattle ships waited to enter the canal, three – the Omega Star, the Unimar and the Sea Star – “all appear to be blocked in various places of the canal ”. . Vessel traffic data showed 11 cattle vessels delayed, while an NGO identified others, bringing the total identified so far to 20.

Five of the vessels identified had loaded animals in Spain, and nine had loaded it in Romania earlier this month, according to the NGO Animals International.

Gerit Weidinger, EU coordinator for Animals International, said data from maritime tracking websites indicated that Unimar left Spain on March 15 for Jeddah. The Omega Star left Spain, she said, on March 16 for Port Said.

There were no immediate welfare issues for the animals, but if Ever Given was to be lightened up to make it easier to move, using cranes to remove enough containers could take weeks and surrounding ships would have to leave and find longer alternative routes.

The nearby ports of Said and Suez could be used to reload fodder if supplies are low, although the process may not be straightforward with so many ships in the queue.

Thousands of cattle have already been slaughtered this year due to delays at sea.

Two ships, the Karim Allah and the Elbeik, were forced to spend months away from the port because their original destination refused to accept the animals due to an administrative health dispute that raised fears that the cattle could or carrier of bovine disease, bluetongue. The dispute sparked a chain of events that eventually saw the two ships return to Spain.

The animals on board the ships returned in such a bad condition, the Spanish authorities ordered their slaughter in the port of Cartagena. More than 850 cattle on the Karim Allah were slaughtered earlier in March, while the slaughter of Elbeik is underway with around 360 of the approximately 1,800 who started the journey slaughtered on Thursday.

Weidinger said she was concerned if the crisis continues, animal welfare could become an issue.

“My biggest fear is that the animals will run out of food and water and get stuck on ships because they cannot be unloaded elsewhere for paperwork reasons,” she said.

“Being stuck on board means there is a risk [for the animals] starvation, dehydration, injury, garbage accumulation so that they could not lie down and the crew also could not get rid of dead animals in the [Suez] channel. It’s basically a time bomb against biological hazards to animals, crew and anyone involved, ”she said.

Asked about the ships carrying cattle of Spanish origin on board, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday: “We cannot tell you anything about these ships but due to the blockage of the Suez Canal as a result of the The grounding of the freighter, the Spanish administration has ordered that no animal transport vessel bound for Saudi Arabia and Jordan be loaded until the canal can be navigated normally.

Romanian agricultural and veterinary authorities have not yet commented.

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