Romania accused of 'silence' over ship that capsized killing 14,000 sheep

An investigation into the Queen Hind sinking a year ago is yet to be published and the live export trade continues to boomRomania has been accused of "complete silence" over its investigation into the sinking of the Queen Hind last November, which resulted in the deaths of more than 14,000 sheep. Rescuers who rushed to the sinking Queen Hind vessel, which left Romania's Black Sea port of Midia a year ago, managed to save just 228 sheep out of a total 14,600, but only 180 ultimately survived the ordeal.Romania's prime minister Ludovic Orban vowed on television last year to end live exports in the "medium-term". However, since the Queen Hind disaster more than 2 million live animals have been exported from Romania - mostly to north Africa and the Middle East.Romanian authorities have claimed the vessel was 10% below capacity and that the animals were "clinically healthy and fit for transport". But campaigners say the vessel was overloaded and this ultimately led to the thousands of sheep drowning in the Black Sea.The only information to emerge since the sinking has been the discovery of secret compartments onboard with dead animals inside, by the company hired to remove the ship from the water.Romania's transport ministry told the Guardian this week that investigations are concluded and said a summary of the report will be published on the ministry's website. They also said that the purpose of the technical investigation was to establish maritime safety issues and to prevent future accidents, and "not to establish guilt in people involved".EU law stipulates that investigations into maritime accidents should be reported in full within 12 months, but that if a final report is not possible in that timeframe, then "an interim report shall be published within 12 months of the date" of the event. Continue reading...