Aussie sheep ship shoots for Israel again after initial shot stopped short

Around 14,500 livestock have set sail from Australia to Israel, two months after their first voyage was curtailed by the threat of attack by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

The livestock were loaded onto the same ship they first sailed on, the MV Bahijah, over the weekend and left Fremantle on Sunday, says Geoff Pearson, the head of livestock at farm group WAFarmers.

He says around 14,000 sheep and 500 cattle were on board and the remaining cattle would be exported on other ships in the coming weeks.

The agriculture ministry says it had approved the shipment.

“The exporter intends to transport the livestock to Israel without passing through the Red Sea,” it says in a statement.

The livestock had endured weeks of limbo aboard the vessel in January and February as a solution was sought to get them to Israel without overly extending the voyage. Eventually it turned back to Australia.

Activists and some politicians branded the animals’ treatment as torture and demanded a swift end to the live sheep trade, but the government and industry say they have been in good condition and health.

The route from Australia around Africa to Israel takes around 33 days, industry figures say.