Paris International Agricultural Show – Press release n°1
The Al Kuwait made a technical stopover in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 19 and 20, 2024. She was carrying 19,000 cattle. She had left Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on February 9, bound for Umm Qasr in Iraq. As soon as the Al Kuwait approached Cape Town, a smell of death invaded the metropolis. SCPA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) officers boarded the ship and found the animals wounded, suffering, stuck in litter and excrement. Some were already dead. Several were euthanized at the request of South African veterinarians. The corpses were not unloaded.
Passengers of the Al Kuwait, February 2024 © SPCA
The Al Kuwait left Cape Town at dawn this morning. According to the captain, pens will be cleaned at sea. This means that thousands of tonnes of waste and animal carcasses will be dumped in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa or Mozambique. The Al Kuwait is due to arrive in Iraq in around 2 weeks.
Robin des Bois in cooperation with Animal Welfare Foundation and Tierschutzbund Zürich published a comprehensive report in June 2021 on EU-approved livestock carriers exporting cattle, sheep and goats from the European Union to North Africa and the Middle East. A new report by Robin des Bois with the same partners will be published at the end of March.
The transport of live animals by sea is one of the major challenges for livestock farmers, chambers of agriculture, veterinarians, shipowners, the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and the European Union.
Al Kuwait, May 22, 2020, Fremantle (Australia) © Brian Scott
Al Kuwait (ex-Ocean Shearer). IMO 9590931. Length 190 m, 16,110 tonnes deadweight. Kuwait flag. Classification society Det Norske Veritas. Built in 2016 in Wafangdian (China) by STX Dalian. Owner: Livestock Transport & Trading Co (Kuwait), which operates 2 livestock carriers, the Al Kuwait and the Al Messilah.
In August 2011, the Al Messilah, loaded with 67,000 sheep destined for Qatar, suffered engine failure shortly after leaving Adelaide (Australia). 500 sheep died during the interminable journey. The 54-year-old Al Messilah continues to transport live animals: she left Fremantle (Australia) on February 17, 2024, bound for Kuwait.
The same shipowner, Livestock Transport & Trading Co, sold another vessel, the Al Shuwaikh, in 2020 to a Liberian-registered Marine One Transport Co Ltd. She now sails under the name of Bashar One Transport and under the Panama flag. She is approved by the European Union for the transport of livestock between the European Union, the Maghreb, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Under the name Al Shuwaikh, she had been the subject of several reports after the deaths of hundreds of sheep transported from Australia to the Middle East. In May 2018, during a journey from Australia to Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, 609 sheep died as a result of heat stress.
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