Letter to IMO: Together with 35 other organizations, we are calling for urgent international regulations for animal transport vessels

Together with 35 other animal welfare organizations, we are calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to finally introduce binding international regulations for animal transport ships. The reason for this is the increasing number of incidents and an aging fleet of animal transport ships. This endangers animals, people, the environment, and public health.

In an open letter to the IMO Secretary-General, we jointly warn of systemic safety issues in the global live animal transport fleet. With an average age of 40 years, these ships are the oldest in any shipping sector – well beyond the standard safe operating life of 25 years.

The recent incident involving the Spiridon II has further intensified the debate. Without international reforms, further catastrophic losses of animal and human life are inevitable.

“These disasters are predictable”

“These disasters are not accidents, but the predictable consequence of a system that allows substandard vessels to carry living animals without any specific international safety or welfare codes,” says our project manager Maria Boada Saña.

She points out that since 2017, animal transport ships have been the most frequently detained type of ship worldwide—despite their small share of the global fleet. Many of these ships sail under so-called flags of convenience with weak oversight and regularly violate environmental and safety regulations.

High risks for humans, animals, and the environment

“No other shipping sector would be allowed to operate with vessels this old, this unsafe and this poorly regulated while carrying living, sentient cargo,” Boada Saña continues. The lack of regulations repeatedly leads to deaths among crews, polluted marine regions, and great animal suffering.

Since 2000, at least seven large animal transport ships have sunk, including the Gulf Livestock 1 (2020), the Queen Hind (2019), and the Haidar (2015). Tens of thousands of animals and numerous seafarers lost their lives.

On long sea journeys, animals are often exposed to extreme heat stress, cramped, dirty decks, injuries, and disease. Crews are also exposed to increasing dangers, from accidents to zoonotic infections.

Several countries have already taken action

Due to ongoing problems, countries such as New Zealand, India, Australia, and the United Kingdom have already decided on bans or phase-out plans for live animal exports by ship.

Nevertheless, around 110 animal transport ships continue to operate worldwide, many of them with inadequate technology or poor waste disposal. Animal carcasses and excrement are still frequently discharged into the sea without treatment – sometimes even in protected areas such as the Mediterranean or the Red Sea.

Our demands to the IMO

Together with an international network of partners, we therefore call on the IMO to:

• develop a binding international Code of Livestock Carriage,
• to establish clear, enforceable standards for: 
  • Vessel design and stability
  • Ventilation and life-support systems
  • Waste and carcass management
  • Crew safety
  • Animal welfare
• require contingency plans to prevent open-ended voyages when animals are refused unloading
• strengthen port inspection regimes worldwide
• Investigate widespread violations of MARPOL pollution laws

Find our joint letter to the IMO here.