Lack of Maintenance Led to Livestock Carrier Engine Failure
A livestock carrier’s engine failure in the Port of Fremantle, Australia, earlier this year highlights the need for ship owners and managers to properly manage maintenance, and for marine pilots to follow communication protocols, an ATSB final report notes.On 4 March 2025, Kuwait-flagged livestock carrier Al Messilah was under pilotage into the Port of Fremantle, Western Australia, when it briefly lost propulsion near the Inner Harbour entrance.After the initial loss of propulsion was resolved…
Missile Strikes Close to Livestock Carrier
Ethical Farming Ireland has joined 21 other NGOs calling on EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Várhelyi to suspend all shipments of livestock to Israel following the escalation in conflict with Iran.The call comes after a missile struck Haifa close to a livestock carrier from Portugal carrying 8,000 sheep and hundreds of young bulls.The organization recounts first-hand experience from Israel Against Live Shipments volunteers where port workers and truck drivers…
Livestock Carrier Capsizes Near Yemen
A ship carrying around two thousand sheep capsized in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen on April 25.Media reports indicate the vessel was overloaded, although reports vary on the number of sheep that were onboard. Local fishermen helped rescue the crew and the animals, but many sheep have reportedly drowned.The vessel had departed from Somalia.
Houthis Claim Attack on Four Ships at Israel's Haifa Port
Yemen's Houthis said early on Sunday that they had conducted a joint military operation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq militant group, targeting four ships at Israel's northern Haifa port.The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement that the two groups launched a drone attack on two cement tankers and two cargo ships at the Haifa port on Saturday.He said the ships belonged to companies that "violated the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine".The Israeli military did not immediately comment…
Australia Working to Reassure Indonesia Over Cattle Deaths
Australia’s Department of Agriculture (DAFF) has stated that testing has returned negative results for Lumpy Skin Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease, after over 150 cattle died on a voyage to Indonesia on Vroon’s Brahman Express.Australia has received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities that the export of live cattle from a particular registered establishment in the Northern Territory has been suspended pending further investigations to determine the cause of the deaths.The department continues to investigate…
Australian Government Considering Re-Export of Livestock
The Australian Department of Agriculture continues to assess an application to re-export the sheep and cattle currently loaded on the livestock carrier Bahijah.The government recalled the vessel after it diverted from the Red Sea over a week into its voyage to the Middle East. The Bahijah had loaded cattle and sheep in Fremantle, Western Australia, and departed for the Middle East on January 5, 2024.The vessel has an Israeli company name painted in large letters along the side of the hull, and it is currently docked in Fremantle taking on supplies.
