October 7, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 10, 1424

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 6: A so-called “ship of death” with more than 50,000 stranded Australian sheep on board has been delayed from leaving Kuwait due to a small fire which broke out at the weekend, officials said on Monday.

Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer Gardner Murray told reporters the ship’s departure has been delayed by at least two days due to the fire which broke out on board early on Sunday.

The fire caused no casualties or damage but delayed restocking the ship with feed, water and fuel, Murray said. Port officials had said the fire was caused by static electricity generated while loading the fodder.

The ship, which has been here since Thursday, had been due to leave the emirate on Monday at the latest.

Murray reiterated that the sheep were healthy and disease-free, adding that he had made three inspections and found them in “remarkably good health.”

The regional representative of Australian Livestock, Nigel Brown, meanwhile said heat and humidity had killed more of the sheep over the past few days, raising the toll to 5,232 dead since the vessel left Australia weeks ago.

Talks were still ongoing with several countries in the region in a bid to secure a buyer for the sheep, Brown added.

Kuwait allowed the vessel to dock for restocking after its shipment was rejected by Saudi Arabia and other countries on controversial health grounds.

Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss on Monday thanked the Kuwaiti government for providing assistance to the ship.

“On behalf of the Australian government, I would like to express my appreciation for the support provided by the government of Kuwait,” to the ship, Truss said in a statement released at a press conference in Kuwait.

The MV Cormo Express was being be supplied with 1,200 tonnes of fodder and enough water and fuel for a journey back to Australia if efforts fail to secure a buyer.

Canberra has said it plans to bring the sheep back to Australia for slaughter if no country will take them, despite the opposition of animal welfare activists and large parts of the agriculture industry.

They want the sheep to be destroyed at sea, but the government has ruled that out.

On Tuesday, a petition with about 23,000 signatures is due to be tabled in Australia’s parliament, calling for a ban on live animal exports.

Dozens of animal rights activists with two six-week-old pet lambs on Monday demonstrated outside Parliament House in Canberra in protest at the animals’ suffering.—AFP