Spiridon II anchored offshore Turkey. Photo: Animal Welfare Foundation and Animal Save Movement Turkey
The livestock carrier Spiridon II remains quarantined off Band?rma, Turkey, 54 days after departing Uruguay, with approximately 2,853 cattle and 20 crew members trapped aboard the aging vessel in what animal welfare advocates are calling a humanitarian and animal welfare crisis.
The 52-year-old vessel, a former Russian general cargo ship converted to livestock transport in 2011, departed Montevideo on September 19 with 2,900 heifers—some potentially pregnant—bound for Turkey. Turkish veterinary authorities have apparently refused to allow the animals to disembark due to a dispute over ear tags that verify the animals’ origin and health monitoring.
Reports say least 48 cattle have already died during the extended voyage, with footage from Animal Welfare Foundation and Animal Save Movement Turkey showing what appear to be carcasses stored in large bags on deck. Additional feed was loaded onto the upper deck on November 9, after which the vessel was moved away from port to continue waiting offshore.
The vessel flies the flag of Togo, which appears on the black list maintained by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, and is managed by a Honduras-based company.
Welfare groups have pointed to Spiridon II‘s troubled history, having been detained nine times since 2009. Port state inspections since 2019 have identified more than 150 deficiencies relating to working conditions, pollution prevention, life-saving equipment, fire safety, navigation safety and structural condition. The most recent inspections revealed 10 deficiencies in Piraeus, Greece in August 2024, and additional deficiencies in Beirut, Lebanon in October 2024 and July 2025.
Despite its condition, the Spiridon II was approved by the European Union’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety and transported livestock between European ports and destinations in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean until at least mid-2024, though its current status remains unclear due to EU transparency limitations.
Discussions are reportedly underway to extend the voyage and deliver the surviving animals to Ukraine instead, though the situation remains unresolved.
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