A livestock carrier, believed to be more than 30-years old rerouted from Somalia to UAE sank in rough seas. A vessel passing nearby was able to rescue 29 of the 31 crew members. Search is still on for the missing two crew members. The 3000 odd animals on board drowned as the vessel sank.
The cargo is said to have belonged to businessmen based in Puntland, Somalia. Livestock – comprising of sheep, goats, camels are exported to Arabian countries. This alone contributes upto 40% of the GDP, which approximately amounts of $250 million in Somalia. Ports of Berbera in Somaliland and Bossaso in Puntland are the primary ports of export.
Even though the Yemen conflict has pulled down the exports from Somalia to the Arabian countries, the Egypt-Somalia new trade agreement in June has revived the exports. With the support of EU and UK, heavy investments have been made toward animal disease prevention. Hence in 2014, Somalia exported 5 million animals to the Gulf of Arabia.
