Australian cattle and sheep ship not going to the Middle East

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Thousands of Australian sheep and cattle stranded on a live export ship off the Western Australian coast will not be sent on a lengthy journey to the Middle East, after the federal regulator refused an application from an exporter.

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00:00 The animals have been on board the MV Bahija for more than a month now after it was ordered

00:06 to return back to Australia amid security concerns in the Red Sea.

00:11 It docked in Fremantle last week, awaiting re-export approval.

00:16 A few hundred cattle were unloaded over the weekend, but more than 14,000 sheep and cattle

00:22 remain on board.

00:24 The exporter, Israeli-based Basim Dabar, had applied to re-export the animals back to the

00:29 Middle East via a longer journey of 33 days, which would have meant the animals would have

00:34 been on board for more than two months before it reached its final destination.

00:39 However, in a statement, the Federal Department of Agriculture says it's not satisfied the

00:44 application met the required criteria, including that the transport arrangements would ensure

00:50 the health and welfare of the livestock on board.

00:53 The department says the animals are in good health right now on board the vessel, but

00:57 what happens next will be a commercial decision for the exporter to make.

01:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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