MV Bahijah: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry says 16,000 sheep and cattle unloaded from ship

All 16,000 sheep and cattle onboard the ill-fated MV Bahijah have been unloaded after spending more than a month at sea, the Federal Agriculture Department has confirmed. The unloading started on Monday and took three days to complete, with the animals taken by truck from Fremantle Port to undisclosed holding facilities. “They will remain under strict biosecurity control at appropriate premises while the exporter considers its options,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said. DAFF issued a statement late on Wednesday confirming all livestock had disembarked, noting the next step was “a commercial decision for the exporter” Bassem Dabbah. The Department confirmed that, since January 5, four cattle and 64 sheep on board the MC Bahijah have died and seven cattle and six sheep have died on land. The on board deaths represent 0.18 per cent of the total cattle and 0.45 per cent of the sheep, which the Department says is below the reportable mortality levels. The reportable mortality rate onboard a livestock carrier is one per cent for sheep and 0.5 per cent for cattle under Australian regulations. The MV Bahijah departed Fremantle on January 5 bound for Israel, but was ordered by DAFF to abandon its voyage on January 19 amid concerns about Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea. Bassem Dabbah submitted an application on January 26 to re-export the consignment via the Cape of Good Hope, before the ship arrived back in Fremantle on February 1. But DAFF rejected the application on February 5, stating the department was not satisfied the transport arrangements were “appropriate” to ensure the animals’ health and welfare. DAFF released a report detailing its full reasons for the decision four days later amid growing calls for transparency. The report revealed one of the key reasons DAFF denied the application was because the Department was not confident Israel would receive the vessel. In response, the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council released a statement claiming activist groups had “hampered” DAFF’s decision. “Legal proceedings instigated by an animal activist group in Israel, which has links to Animals Australia, was the key contributor in this uncertainty effectively tying the hands of the decision maker,” ALEC chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said. Mr Harvey-Sutton said this was despite the fact animal welfare standards onboard the vessel had been “exemplary”, as independently verified by DAFF. “Time and time again the good animal welfare on the vessel is referenced throughout the decision, highlighting that those saying otherwise were deliberately misrepresenting the truth for nefarious reasons,” he said.