The MV Al Kuwait must not sail
into a war zone.
Thousands of Western Australian sheep are at Fremantle Port right now, awaiting loading onto the world’s largest livestock carrier. The Strait of Hormuz is closed. There is no safe route. There is no safe port. Stop Live Exports has written urgently to the Prime Minister demanding the federal government act today.
Stop Live Exports has today written urgent ministerial briefings to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis MLC, calling on the federal government to immediately suspend the live export shipment of the MV Al Kuwait from Fremantle Port.
As of 2 March 2026, the Strait of Hormuz — the sole maritime passage into the Persian Gulf, and the only viable sea route to the vessel’s destination ports of Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Oman — has been declared closed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes on 28 February 2026.
Ship traffic through the Strait has dropped by approximately 70 per cent. The world’s largest container carriers — Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM — have suspended all Gulf transits. Multiple tankers have been struck by missiles off the coast of Oman. Kuwait’s Shuaiba Port — the MV Al Kuwait’s primary discharge port — was suspended on 28 February following aerial shrapnel landing nearby.
What we are asking
Stop Live Exports has written to the Prime Minister, Minister for Agriculture Julie Collins MP, Trade Minister Don Farrell, Fremantle MP Josh Wilson, and WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis MLC. Our demands are clear:
1) Suspend the MV Al Kuwait's export permit immediately, pending a maritime safety assessment of the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
2) Rule out Cape of Good Hope re-routing as an alternative. An additional 8,000 nautical miles and 3–4 weeks at sea is not a welfare-neutral option — it dramatically increases suffering and mortality risk with no guarantee of safe discharge
3) Ensure the sheep currently held at Fremantle are humanely managed within Australia, under Australian animal welfare standards, for as long as this crisis continues.
4) Provide an urgent public update on the government's position, so Australians can know their government is acting.
We have been here before
In January 2024, the MV Bahijah was cleared to depart Fremantle carrying approximately 15,000 Australian sheep and cattle into the Red Sea conflict zone. The vessel was forced to turn back after weeks at sea. Animals were confined aboard for over a month before being unloaded at Fremantle under biosecurity quarantine. It was an entirely avoidable disaster — and it happened because government deferred to industry. The current crisis is significantly more severe.
The industry response
The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) has advised it is “monitoring the situation.” Stop Live Exports’ position is unambiguous: monitoring is not oversight. A vessel loaded with thousands of Australian animals cannot be sent into an active war zone because industry is watching and waiting. The decision to act — or not to act — rests with the federal government and no one else.
The law is clear
The federal government has explicit authority under the Export Control Act 2020 and the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 to suspend or revoke this export permit. It does not need to wait for industry. It does not need to wait for the situation to deteriorate further. It can act today.
In Western Australia, the Animal Welfare Act 2002 (WA) applies to every sheep currently held in the Fremantle feedlot. DPIRD’s Livestock Compliance Unit has inspection and enforcement powers over those animals right now. We have called on Minister Jarvis to direct an immediate welfare audit.
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