A ship with sheep sank in the Sudanese port of Swakin on the Red Sea coast. The animals were to be brought to Saudi Arabia on the eve of the Muslim holiday of the sacrifice of Eid al-Adha. However, the sheep died due to overloading the ship, writes Bloomberg.
The BADR 1, carrying 15,800 sheep, sank near the pier. The crew escaped, but no animals. Port authorities have declared a serious environmental threat to the Red Sea due to the mass death of livestock.
The cause of the incident was overload — the maximum tonnage of the vessel was estimated at 12 thousand animals.
- Sudan has one of Africaʼs largest livestock populations, with Egypt and the Persian Gulf countries as its main buyers.