50 WESTERNMARINER.COM AUGUST 2019 CANADA’S COMMERCIAL MARINE MAGAZINEG
uirec Soudée and his hen
Monique are unlikely shipmates.
Nonetheless, they logged 45,000
miles crossing the Atlantic, tran-
siting the Northwest Passage,
the Pacific Ocean to Drake Passage and the
Antarctic, then up to the Caribbean and
over to Brittany - their home in France.
Monique joined Soudée’s 12m steel sail-
boat yvinec when a friend in Tenerife gave
him the hen. He figured the eggs would be a bonus, and if
she proved to be a bother he’d have roast chicken for din-
ner. Naysayers were adamant that he should bail on the
bird, that the chicken would be too stressed to lay. Not the
case - Monique laid an egg her first day aboard, and then
regularly a half dozen most weeks during their five years
at sea together.
An encounter with Canadian Customs and the quar-
antine regulations did not go well for the pair. Only after
impassioned pleading was Guirec released and allowed to
keep Momo - as he affectionately calls her. After all, as he
told CTV news “she’s my best friend, we do everything to-
gether”. Guirec is quick to admit though that “she can get
on my nerves sometimes” as happens in any life a deux.
Whereas Monique had the run of yvinec and only stayed
in her coop when the weather got rough, four leggedcreatures don’t fare as well on livestock car-
riers. These vessels, modified or built for
the transportation of live animals may car-
ry as many as 30,000 sheep, or a combined
cargo of 7,000 cattle and 20,000 sheep. The
MV oceanshearer, considered the largest
livestock carrier in the world, has a capacity
for 20,000 cattle or 60,000 sheep. New ships
are being built that can carry 75,000 cattle.
In her 2016 open letter to IMO Secretary
General Ki Tack Lim, veterinarian Dr. Lynn Simpson, with
more than a decade working on livestock carriers, wrote of
her concerns about animal export vessels. She described
the lack of adequate space and bedding, waste accumu-
lation, injuries, infection, disease, food and water con-
tamination, rough seas, and heat extremes of 40 degrees
Celsius or higher. Many animals perish and are thrown
overboard.
About the high mortality rates and extreme conditions
endured on livestock carriers, Dr. Simpson tells us “This
industry entails unnecessary pain and suffering for all the
animals involved within it. Anyone who tells you different
is either ill-informed, they’re a liar, or they’re staying silent
for fear of losing their job”.
This month let’s see what we know about Monique and
livestock carriers.Deck Watch
Quiz 175
BABE THE SAFETY POOCH:
cluck cluckMonique
By Capt Barb Howe
- What kind of chicken is Monique?
- Approximately how many dozen eggs did Monique lay
over their 5 years at sea? - What are the two main types of livestock ships?
- What two kinds of animals are the majority of those trans-
ported by livestock carriers? - What two countries are the principal exporters of
animals?
6. Cattle need approximately litres of water per day.
7. Sheep need approximately litres of water per day.
8. Sheep and cattle need _____% of their weight a day in
fodder.
9. What three gases are a major problem on livestock
carriers?
10. Sheep on livestock carriers are particularly prone to
inanition - what is this? Answers on page 66
BURRARD HEAVY DUTY
DECK MACHINERY
TOWING WINCHES ANCHOR WINDLASSES
MOORING CAPSTANS CARGO WINCHES
HYDRAULIC OR ELECTRIC DRIVESBURRARD IRON WORKS LIMITED
220 Alexander Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1C1
Phone: (604) 684-2491 Fax: (604) 684-0458
E-Mail: [email protected]