15,000 sheep drown in the Red Sea after ship crammed with livestock sinks in Sudan port
- 15,800 sheep worth around $4million sank at Suakin port on Sunday
- The Badr 1 has a capacity of only 9,000 livestock and only 700 sheep survived
- The sinking is likely to disrupt the port and cause environmental issues because of the animal corpses
An over-capacity ship crammed with thousands of sheep sank in Sudan on Sunday – killing most of the animals onboard, officials have said.
The livestock transporting vessel Badr 1 had 15,800 sheep on it despite it having a 9,000 capacity when trying to export the animals to Saudi Arabia from the port of Suakin in Sudan.
All the crew members aboard the vessel survived the calamity – but the number of dead animals could cause environmental problems for the port.
An anonymous Sudanese port official told AFP: ‘The ship, Badr 1, sank during the early hours of Sunday morning.
Livestock owners recovered only around 700 sheep from the sunken vessel
The livestock transporting vessel Badr 1 had 15,800 sheep on it despite it having a 9,000 capacity
The lost livestock is estimated to be worth around $4million and was headed for Saudi Arabia
‘It was carrying 15,800 sheep, which was beyond its load limits.’
The official said: ‘The sunken ship will affect the port’s operation. It will also likely have an environmental impact due to the death of the large number of animals carried by the ship’.
The lost livestock is estimated to be worth around $4million.
Omar al-Khalifa, the head of the national exporters’ association, said the ship took several hours to sink at the pier – a window that meant it ‘could have been rescued.’
The total value of the lost livestock ‘is around 14 million Saudi riyals, the equivalent of four million dollars,’ said Saleh Selim, the head of the association’s livestock division, confirming also that the sheep were loaded onto the vessel at Suakin port.
He said livestock owners recovered only around 700 sheep ‘but they were found very ill and we don’t expect them to live long.’
Selim called for an investigation into the incident.
Last month, a massive fire broke out in the cargo area of Suakin port, lasting hours and causing heavy damage. It was not clear what caused the blaze.
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire, but has yet to release its findings.
The 700 livestock that were rescued are not expected to live long according to local sources
Omar al-Khalifa, the head of the national exporters’ association, said the ship took several hours to sink at the pier – a window that meant it ‘could have been rescued’
Last month, a massive fire broke out in the cargo area of Suakin port, lasting hours and causing heavy damage
The historic port town of Suakin is no longer Sudan’s main foreign trade hub, a role which has been taken by Port Sudan, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) away along the Red Sea coast.
There have been moves to redevelop Suakin port, but a 2017 deal with Turkey to restore historic buildings and expand the docks was suspended after the ouster of longtime president Omar al-Bashir.
Sudan remains gripped by a chronic economic crisis, which has deepened following last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The military takeover triggered punitive measures, including aid cuts by Western governments, who demanded the restoration of the transitional administration installed after Bashir was toppled.
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