More than 150 cattle died on a ship from Darwin. It could result in a diplomatic debacle

The live export industry has faith the Indonesian and Australian governments can work through an emerging trade and diplomatic controversy tied to more than 150 cattle deaths aboard the transport vessel, Brahman Express.

Given the allegations of number fudging, others believe the situation may get worse before it gets better.

The ship at the centre of an emerging diplomatic muddle, the Brahman Express.Credit: Vroon

The cattle died on the ship after it left Darwin on March 14, prompting the Indonesian government to suspend imports from the export yard until the cause was confirmed. Australian authorities were almost certain it was botulism, a non-contagious disease usually caught from contaminated food.

But who knew what, and how the Indonesians were informed, remained unclear.

The Australian government has refused to answer even the most basic questions. Most of what we know comes from authorities in Indonesia.

Late on Thursday, the government there made it known it had demanded Australia investigate why Indonesian officials were allegedly told by the crew that only eight cattle had died aboard the Brahman Express when in fact it was 151 – a massive figure by any historical comparison.

“They have every reason to be pissed off if they’ve been lied to,” said veterinarian Dr Lynn Simpson, who made close to 60 voyages on cattle transport ships, including two on the Brahman Express.

“But it’s kind of hard because, from an animal welfare perspective, I would have gotten them [the surviving animals] off any way I could have, too.”

The reason for misrepresenting the numbers – which neither the Australian government nor shipping company Vroon would confirm – could have been related to fears about Indonesia potentially turning the boat and its roughly 2300 live animals away, she said. Such a move would have created a debacle at sea good for no one, especially the cattle.

“[The empty ship] has probably scurried away,” Simpson said. “Then maybe Australia phoned the Indonesians later to say, ‘Oh gee, really sorry about that’.”

It was unclear when Australia notified the Indonesians about the 151 deaths.

Logs showed the ship left the Indonesian port of Medan about 24 hours after its arrival, and before news emerged of the deaths.

The live cattle trade is a sensitive issue in both Australia and Indonesia. Activists want the trade banned, citing the suffering of the animals, and Indonesia takes its biosecurity seriously.

The head of Indonesia’s national food agency, Arief Prasetyo Adi, told local media on Wednesday that he did not have the details, but “the cattle should not be able to enter Indonesia if they have a disease.”

A spokesman for Indonesia’s quarantine agency told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday that the Australian Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) passed on the true casualty figures, not the crew.

“The ship’s captain wrote a mortality report. It is like that for every ship docking in Indonesia, they must write a mortality statement,” he said.

“What’s written on that document was that eight died. We said that to Australia at the meeting [on Wednesday] and we demanded an investigation.”

The Brahman Express arrived in Medan on March 23 – nine days after leaving Darwin and three days after its first stop in Bandar Lampung.

Australian laws required an exporter to inform the government within 12 hours if there had been three or more onboard cattle deaths.

While the precise timing of the third of the 151 deaths was unclear, the crew had time to discard almost all the carcasses overboard, a task Simpson said was common practice, but also difficult and protracted.

It appeared that the crew misrepresented the numbers – by mistake or design – in its log. This masthead asked both DAFF and Vroon if either of them kept the true figure secret from the Indonesians. Neither addressed the question.

“I’m guessing this is going to blow up to be quite a big diplomatic and trade debacle,” Simpson said.

Indonesia has suspended live cattle exports from a Darwin export yard.Credit: Glenn Campbell

“I mean, they just f---ed up. The background at this point in time is that the cattle trade is trying to stay really quiet. The sheep trade is in the firing line, and the cattle guys are just sort of skulking around the back saying, ‘Don’t look at us’.”

Mark Harvey-Sutton, chief executive of the Australian Livestock Exporters Association, said the organisation didn’t yet have all the facts, but was “of the view this sort of detail can be worked through” by both governments.

“The Indonesian government has already officially indicated it would only suspend one facility where the cattle were held prior to export, and I understand they are satisfied the cause of the cattle deaths was botulism,” he said.

“This has been our key concern, and we are grateful for the work of Indonesian and Australian officials to reach this resolution.”

The best practice for the disposal of dead cattle, Simpson said, was to cut the animal into eight pieces and haul them to the upper level of the ship with gaffer hooks.

“But with that many [deaths], I imagine these guys were trying to run a crane into the guts of the ship… and take the entire carcass out and dump it over the edge that way,” she said.

“With a full carcass, you run a much bigger risk of them ending up on beaches. They sort of become floaters. People might see cattle bobbing about in the water. All you need is one yachtsman or something to take photos of it bloated … and it’s into the press. And then the trade cops an extra hammering.”

She said the Brahman Express would not have had a vet because, despite years of lobbying, there was no legal requirement to have one onboard for relatively short trips like Darwin to Indonesia.

“Some of these short-haul voyages are taking 20,000 cattle – and with not one vet,” she said.

Had there been a vet on the Brahman Express, Simpson said they would have identified the symptoms of botulism and advised euthanizing the sick cattle to avoid suffering. “Stockies [stockmen] often wait in case things get better because they don’t have the training to be more certain,” she said.

In addition, a vet would have been a credible contact point to smooth things over with the Indonesians in Medan.

“Indonesia might not have had to be bullshitted to,” she said. “The vet could’ve said, ‘We know it’s botulism. It’s a non-contagious condition. It’s not going to spread. We need to get the surviving animals off the ship immediately for health and welfare reasons.’

“There should be a vet on every voyage.”

Vroon expressed “regret” for what happened on the Brahman Express. “DAFF have stated that all cattle were assessed to be in a healthy condition and, following inspections by veterinarians, were fit to be loaded,” a spokesman said.

“All health and safety measures for the transportation of livestock on board the vessel were found to be in order.”

Get a note direct from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.