The livestock vessel sank while transporting animals from Sudan to Saudi Arabia. According to a senior Sudanese port official, Badr 1 shipwrecked early Sunday morning. He further stated that the ship had 15,800 sheep on board.

Another official expressed concern about the accident’s economic and environmental consequences while being grateful for the crew’s safety.

He further stated that the sunken ship would impact the port’s operations and the environment due to the sheer number of dead animals.

The ship took several hours to sink at the pier, said Omar al-Khalifa, the head of the national exporters’ association — a window suggesting that the catastrophe was avoidable.

Saleh Selim, the head of the association’s livestock division, said that lost cattle were worth roughly 14 Saudi riyals each and has demanded an investigation into the occurrence.

He also mentioned that the livestock owners could only manage to recover around 700 sheep. They were found to be very ill and won’t live much longer.

All sheep boarded the vessel at Suakin port.

The port is already under investigation to identify what caused a large fire in the cargo area last month that lasted hours and caused significant damage.

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