SARAH M

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Livestock carrier turned away from Greenore

The 'Sarah M' was lingering off Spain awaiting orders after the vessel was denied entry into Greenore on April 30, 2024, for a scheduled export voyage. An animal activist group used the sanctions against Russia and the fact that the ship had recently switched to the Russian classification society to get the ship barred from the trade she has been involved in for a few years. The 'Sarah M' didn’t dock at Greenore, it turned around and scuttled away empty shortly after Farming Ireland sent off a bunch of emails to various authorities. sHe eft Irish waters, turned east into international waters, and then dropped anchor. Ethical Farming Ireland spotted in the records that the vessel, despite operating since 2019 as the 'Sarah M', in March 2024 switched flags from Panama to Antigua and Barbuda. It also moved from the Polish class society to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. That provided the opening for the activists who quickly highlighted to the Irish authorities that the April 2023 EU sanctions imposed on Russia included a provision to block any vessel in the Russian class from EU ports. The ship was due to reach Greenore to export 2,000 young bulls. The vessel has had past problems with the authorities. Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the past revoked the operation license of the 'Sarah M' for breaches of regulations before being re-granted. In late 2019, the vessel made a trip for its prior owner, Beirut Shipping Company, but then suddenly changed ownership to DMS Lines, also in Lebanon. Media reports were that the prior owner had its license revoked because of a low-performance rating. The Agricultural authority opted to remain silent on the latest incident. The 'Sarah M' arrived on May 7 off Cartagena with the AIS signal showing it was waiting for orders.

One migrant rescued, a dozen more missing

On Nov 3, 2022, at 2:08 a.m. the'Sarah M' rescued a North African man from the sea about 19 nautical miles southeast of Cabo de Gata, while en route from Algiers to Foynes. He was transferred to the SAR boat 'Salvamar Spica'. The castaway declared that 13 people were in his boat in total.

Shipment set to go after technical difficulties were ironed out

A postponed shipment of Irish cattle to Algeria aboard the 'Sarah' was set to go ahead before the end of the week. In a statement, Emerald Isle Beef Producers (EIBP), which supplied around 600 cattle to the last ship to Algeria, said recent technical difficulties between the Department of Agriculture and the exporters had been ironed out. Exporters Roundwood Park Livestock and Premium Livestock had been due to ship up to 1,300 bulls and steers on May 15, 2020. However, they were unable to meet, in time, some conditions of the export health certificate and its protocols. Stalemate had developed between the Irish Department of Agriculture and the shipping company as regards procedures to be followed for the shipment. The impasse came to a head during the week when the shipping company, facing birthing charges of tens of thousands of euro per day, made the decision to ship the cattle out of France rather than Ireland. The loss of the contract would have been a damaging blow to competition for finished cattle in Ireland. A number of farmers also faced issues with delayed payment after the last shipment. However, this issue had now been resolved and farmers would be guaranteed a transfer of money after cattle were weighed in New Ross mart. Work was done by the exporter and the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and his Department to find a workable solution to facilitate the shipment. The co-operation of all farm organisations in their support for live exports was also acknowledged. The resolution of the issues which delayed the export of cattle was welcomed by IFA president Tim Cullinan.