Hundreds of cattle will be unloaded from a live export vessel forced back to Australia due to rising tensions in the Middle East.
The MV Bahihaj finally berthed in Fremantle Port early on Thursday morning after 25 days at sea to take on fresh feed and other supplies although none of the 16,500 sheep or cattle aboard the vessel were unloaded at that time.
However, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry revealed late on Friday night that it had granted a request from the export company for "several hundred healthy cattle" to be unloaded "under strict biosecurity measures".
"This action is unrelated to the potential re-export of the remaining animals on the vessel. The department's decision maker is still considering the application," according to a DAFF statement.
It is unknown if the cattle will be returned to the vessel or remain in Australia - that scenario may be necessary for a range of reasons, from offloading for local slaughter to changing stocking density protocols if a more circuitous route to Jordan was taken to avoid Houthi militants or a new buyer had been found for the sheep in another nation.
Meanwhile, no signs of exotic disease has been detected among the animals and a preliminary report by two independent veterinarians found "no significant animal health or welfare issues" on board the ship.
Anti-live export activists, who held a protest at Fremantle Port on Tuesday, have seized on the situation and local heatwave conditions as justification for the federal government's looming shutdown of the live sheep export by sea industry.
However, a DAFF spokesperson confirmed that "contrary to public reports, no livestock are required to be offloaded for health reasons".
That revealed social media and media reports driven by animal activist groups that there were thousands of sick animals on board as falsehoods.
The situation of live export animals returning to Australia however has forced authorities into making unique and complex assessments as quickly as possible.
Factors in that decision-making include balancing of biosecurity regulations, animal welfare and export legislation considerations, the potential off-loading animals and whether trading partners would support some or all of the animals being re-exported.
The ship, owned by Israeli company Basem Dabbah, had been anchored about 10 kilometres off the WA coast since Monday afternoon after leaving Fremantle destined for Jordan on January 5.
It abandoned its voyage due to the risk of violence by Houthis militants targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea channel.
Meanwhile, the RSPCA had demanded that DAFF intervene using powers under the Export Control Act to stop re-exporting.
The exporters' registered veterinarian stationed on board for the vessel for the voyage duration has also been liaising with the department.
Australia's chief veterinary officer Dr Beth Cookson said stakeholders were "very conscious of the need to move quickly" and that engagement with stakeholders had been constructive and collaborative.
On-board staff have been cleaning the ship's stalls and providing new bedding and water and feed for the animals.
Australian Livestock Exporters' Council CEO Mark Harvey-Sutton said it was "appalling" that activists and some politicians had been making "ludicrous claims.. without firsthand evidence".
"Once again, activists are spreading lies to further their own cause and it's time it was called out," he said.
"While industry has worked diligently with the Australian Government to resolve this issue in the full knowledge that there are processes and procedures to handle circumstances such as these.
"We, as an industry, have had to endure intolerable lies about what is going on - all from people that have never set foot on a livestock vessel once in their lives.
"I saw a representative of the RSPCA on television, when asked what conditions were like on the vessel, describing the most horrid conditions without a scrap of evidence to support their claims."
Meanwhile, WA Premier Roger Cook told local Perth radio this week that the interests of primary producers must be strongly considered when asked about the looming ban.
"The fact of the matter is .. a lot of our farmers rely upon an ecosystem, which involves live animal exports," he said.
"So, if the Commonwealth wants to move away from that, they have to be able to provide a solution to the farmers about how that will impact on their industry."
