The Environment
A topic that we never would have even considered, but is clearly a huge environmental issue. Think twice before you have that burger…
The stench emanating from livestock carriers is legendary amongst seafarers. Some joke that they can be smelt before they appear on the ship’s radar. Images of animals covered in excrement, such as the one above, indicate why this might be so.
They have been widely circulated by animal welfare groups, but are they really an accurate portrayal of conditions on board? And what risks do these vessels pose for marine pollution, animal welfare, crew safety and public health?
Carried by the oldest saltwater fleet, about 115 vessels in total, many millions of animals have been exported around the world by sea. The number of cattle exported live from Australia alone each year has varied between 620,000 and 1,310,000 for the last 10 years. The cattle are shipped to markets in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Russia.
Pictured above is livestock sitting in excrement as they do for days on end. But hey, why worry about it – no one is going to deny you a fucking hamburger over something as trivial as animal rights, eh Charlie?
On voyages of more than 10 days, ships are washed down every three to five days. On big ships, this operation can take three days to complete. There are no shore-based facilities to accept livestock excrement, so the only excrement on board that reaches shore is that stuck to the animals themselves.
Using the table below, and assuming one million head of cattle a year, 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of excrement per head per day, an average voyage time of 10 days and vessel loading and unloading times of five days, something in the order of 300,000 tons of excrement is pumped into the sea during these voyages each year. A similar calculation for sheep, voyaging more typically for 20 days, would add a further 85,000 tons. Read on. Thanks very much to the Maritime Executive for this report.
And you can guarantee one thing, busy sucking Vladimir Putin’s cock, President Orange Hitler couldn’t give less of a fuck about issues like this if he tried. After all, look who his head of the EPA is. – ed
