On Sunday 12th June the 1973 built TZA flag livestock carrier AL BADRI 1 carrying around 16,000 sheep capsized and sank at her berth at Suakin Port, Sudan. All crew members escaped safely, but almost all of the cargo was lost.
The loss of the vessel may affect the port’s operations, as well as the environment, given the potential for a fuel oil spill and the effluent from the decay of thousands of sheep. The vessel is now submerged next to her berth, interfering with the pier’s use until the wreck is cleared. The Sudan Tribune news website estimated financial losses of 15 million Saudi riyals ($4 million), citing officials it didn’t identify.
Sudan which is mired in economic crisis and saw a coup in October, has one of Africa’s largest livestock populations, with Egypt and Gulf states being major buyers.
The ship AL BADRI 1 (misreported as the BADR 1) was built in Germany as the ro/ro vessel with stern ramp HENRY STAHL for the German Company Washbay-Linie GmbH of which use to transport Skoda Automobiles trading until 1995 after the company went into bankruptcy in 1994 and she was forced to be sold off. She was named as YTONG 1 homeported at Piraeus, Greece for the company YTONG. YTONG is the world’s largest manufacturer of aerated concrete blocks and the only company in Greece that produces Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks. She traded until February 2005 and was renamed as ESTER 1 until 2010 and then to MALAK 1 homeported at Zanzibar, Tanzania (TZA) Flag and after 2019 additional 4 decks space for more livestock was added.
The last PSC Inspection made at Sudan by Indian Ocean MoU back to 10th February 2021 found 9 deficiencies –
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Published – Tuesday 14th June, 2022.
