Drama at sea continues Cattle freighter with 3000 cattle on board can no longer be located
The situation of the ship Spiridon II with around 3000 cattle on board, which has been at sea for weeks, raises serious questions: there has been no trace of the crew or the transporter for two days. Blue News provides an overview of the situation.
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- The Spiridon II has been underway for two months and had to wait off the coast for weeks with around 3,000 cattle after being rejected by Turkey because a lack of documents prevented it from being unloaded.
- The ship has been missing for over two days without a trace because the AIS tracking system was switched off - an unusually long outage in a busy sea area.
- Animal rights activists are asking critical questions about the condition of the crew, the navigation and possible illegal activities such as the dumping of animal carcasses or manure in the Mediterranean - which would constitute a MARPOL violation.
- The case is attracting a great deal of public attention: The animal welfare organization's join-in campaign is receiving signatures by the minute, which are to be handed over to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) in the coming days.
The Spiridon II, which started two months ago in Uruguay, has been making headlines since the Turkish rejection of the animals: The transporter with almost 3,000 cattle had to wait off the Turkish coast for weeks after the long crossing because the ship was not allowed to unload due to a lack of documents.
Now there has been no trace of the livestock transport ship for over two days, as it has switched off its AIS tracking system and can no longer be seen via the usual tracking systems. "Such a long AIS outage in such a highly frequented sea area as the Mediterranean is really worrying," says Tabea von Ow, spokesperson for the Animal Welfare Foundation and the Zurich Animal Welfare Association. The animal welfare organizations made the case public.
"One wonders whether the ship's navigation is still working. Is the crew still safe? What are the conditions on board? And, of course, was the system switched off in order to do something illegal, such as improperly dispose of animal carcasses or manure in the Mediterranean?" If the latter is true, it would be a violation of the MARPOL Convention.
There is no longer any contact with the owner of the ship, who informed the animal welfare organization about the case.
The chances of the cattle being allowed to go ashore anywhere are extremely slim: all potentially affected countries on the route have strict disease control regulations that prevent the import of these animals. In Turkey, unloading failed because the documents for around 500 cattle were incorrect - and similar problems could also be expected in other ports. "The second reason is that the condition of the animals is now likely to be so bad that they would probably not be allowed to be imported anyway," says von Ow. "We can't say at the moment how many cattle are dead and how many are alive. One thing is clear: more animals are dying on this freighter every day."
Freeing animals from their suffering
"Our hope now is that authorities along the route can be persuaded to inspect the ship in order to put animals out of their misery under veterinary supervision. We are working hard to persuade the relevant authorities to take action. However, success depends on whether the ship stops," explains von Ow.
However, animal welfare concerns alone are not enough to stop a ship on the high seas. Authorities may only intervene for other, legally clearly defined reasons - for example, if there is suspicion of drug smuggling, which would allow the marine police to carry out an inspection. The relevant authorities could also order a stop and carry out an inspection if there are signs of environmental pollution. "That is why we are currently trying to obtain such an inspection from various authorities in parallel," said the spokesperson.
However, blaming individual players is not enough. Ultimately, it is a global system that makes such cases possible. "As long as there are such transports, there will always be mistakes that lead to thousands of animals dying. That's why we are fighting to end these live animal transports by ship at all costs."
«As long as there are such transports, there will always be mistakes that lead to thousands of animals dying»
The problem is not an isolated one, but a global one, the organization emphasizes. Global animal production - for example in the dairy industry - generates enormous surpluses for which international buyers are sought. "Around three million cattle and sheep are exported by ship from the EU to third countries every year, including animals from Germany. "As far as we know, no "farm" animals are exported from Switzerland on animal transport ships," says the spokesperson for the Animal Welfare Foundation and the Zurich Animal Welfare Association.
Drama at sea makes big waves
The drama is not only causing a stir in the media, but is also moving the population. The animal welfare organization is receiving new signatures every minute for its join-in campaign, which can be used to call on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) to take action. "We will hand over the collected signatures to the authorities in the coming days," says von Ow. In the hope that such dramas on the high seas will one day be a thing of the past.
