The livestock boat was exporting the animals from Sudan to Saudi Arabia when it sank. “The ship, Badr 1, sank in the early hours of Sunday morning,” a senior Sudanese port official said on condition of anonymity. “It carries 15,800 sheep.” Another official, who said the entire crew had been rescued, expressed concern about the financial and environmental impact of the accident. “The sunken ship will affect the operation of the port,” the official said. “It will also have potential environmental consequences due to the death of the large number of animals carried by the ship.” Omar al-Khalifa, head of the National Exporters’ Association, said it took the ship several hours to sink to the pier – a window that suggests it “could have been rescued”. The total value of the lost animals was about 14 Saudi riyals ($ 3.7 million), said Saleh Selim, head of the union’s livestock department, who called for an investigation into the incident. He said animal owners had recovered only about 700 sheep “but were found very ill and we do not expect them to live long”. He also confirmed that the sheep had been loaded on the ship in the port of Swakin. A sheep is rescued after the sinking of the ship Badr 1. Photo: AFP / Getty Images The port is already under investigation to determine the cause of the huge fire that broke out last month at the cargo area, which lasted for hours and caused extensive damage. The historic port city of Suakin is no longer Sudan’s main foreign trade hub, a role played by Port Sudan, 60 kilometers (40 miles) along the Red Sea coast. Moves have been made to redevelop the port of Swakin, but the 2017 agreement with Turkey on the restoration of historic buildings and the expansion of the docks was suspended after the overthrow of longtime president Omar al-Bashir. Sudan continues to suffer from a chronic economic crisis, which has deepened since last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The military coup sparked punitive measures, including cuts in aid from Western governments, which demanded the restoration of the transitional administration that had been established after the overthrow of Bashir.
