Australia weighs next steps for sheep on diverted ship

Australia is working to determine the next steps for sheep and cattle on a vessel that was ordered to return to the country after being diverted from the Middle East due to turmoil in the Red Sea.

The agriculture department “has been working with the exporter to determine the options available to them,” the government agency said in a statement on Monday, without elaborating on what’s being considered. The livestock are on the Bahijah, which departed Fremantle port for Jordan on Jan. 5.

“We would be certain their welfare is compromised to some degree after a grueling and unexpectedly prolonged 24 days at sea,” said Suzanne Fowler, chief science officer at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia. The RSPCA is yet to get a health update, she added.

The Bahijah was ordered to return to Australia on Jan. 20, and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that the vessel is scheduled to reach Fremantle port in Western Australia on Monday.