An overladen ship crammed with thousands of sheep sank Sunday in Sudan’s Red Sea port of Suakin drowning most animals on board while the crew survived, officials said.
The livestock vessel was exporting the animals from Sudan to Saudi Arabia when it sank as several thousand more animals were loaded on board than it’s capacity.
“The ship, Badr 1, sank during the early hours of Sunday morning,” a senior Sudanese port official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It was carrying 15,800 sheep,” added the official while stating that the ship was supposed to carry only 9,000 sheep.
Another official, who said that all crew were rescued, raised concerns over the economic and environmental impact of the accident stating that the sunken ship will affect the port’s operation and will also likely have an environmental impact “due to the death of the large number of animals carried by the ship”.
Saleh Selim, the head of the association’s livestock division, said the total value of the lost livestock was around 14 Saudi riyals ($3.7m).
