At least 20 ships trapped in the Suez Canal congestion are transporting cattle – raising fears about the safety of animals on the fourth consecutive day of blocked sea traffic, according to a report on Friday.
The ships bound for the farm – some of which were loaded in Spain and Romania weeks ago – “all seem to be stuck at various points on the channel,” a spokesman for the tracking website Marine Traffic and other sources told The Guardian.
“My biggest fear is that animals will run out of food and water and get stuck on ships because they cannot be unloaded elsewhere for paperwork,” said Gerit Weidinger, European Union coordinator for Animals International.
“It is basically a biohazard time bomb for the animals, the crew and anyone involved,” she said.
Floating farms have been stranded since Ever Given, 1,300 feet long, was diagonally trapped in the canal near Egypt on Monday.
Approximately 200 ships – Russian warships, bulk carriers and oil tankers among them – are still waiting to be released from the obstructed waterway.
Authorities said there was no concern for the animals’ immediate welfare, but Weidinger feared they would die if the trip took much longer.
“Being trapped on board means that there is a risk of starvation, dehydration, injury, accumulation of waste, so that they cannot lie down and neither the crew can get rid of the bodies of dead animals in the [Suez] channel, ”she said.
Stranded cattle ships include Omega Star and Unimar, which left Spain in mid-March, according to the agency, which did not specify what type of animals are on board.
Five of the ships collected animals in Spain and nine boarded them in Romania earlier this month, according to the NGO Animals International.
Spanish officials said on Thursday that they had stopped transporting livestock to areas where access to the canal is essential.
“We cannot say anything about these ships, but due to the blockade of the Suez Canal as a result of the grounding of the freighter, the Spanish administration has given orders that no ship transporting animals to Saudi Arabia and Jordan be loaded until the channel can be navigated normally, ”said a representative of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture.
Romanian agricultural authorities did not return a request for comment, according to the vehicle