The Dark Side of the $20 Billion Livestock Shipping Industry

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It was Aug. 30, 2020. The Gulf Livestock 1 was steaming into the path of Maysak, a Category 4 typhoon that was hurtling up the Philippine Sea with 130 mph winds and 20-foot waves. Even the sturdiest cargo ship would take a beating in such conditions. But for the Gulf, Maysak spelled catastrophe. Gulf Livestock 1 was due to arrive at Tangshan, a massive Chinese port complex about 100 miles from Beijing, in four days. It was the height of pandemic gridlock in ports around the world, especially in China, where ships often waited more than two days to offload. For the Gulf, which carried a shifting, easily frightened cargo of 5,867 dairy cattle, every extra day at anchor heightened the risk of the animals becoming ill or dying—and of costing the exporter and ship owner money. The ship continued its route towards China. The eventual sinking of Gulf Livestock 1 was the worst disaster in the history of the live-export trade, an industry made up of about 150 ships with a market value totaling as much as $30 billion. While the industry’s size makes it a tiny fraction of the $2.2 trillion global commercial shipping fleet, which numbers around 100,000 vessels, the live-export fleet was already disproportionately prone to catastrophic accidents. This story was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, a nonprofit investigative news organization. 0:00 Introduction 1:30 Live export industry 3:49 Gulf Livestock 1 5:37 2020 journey 8:00 After the sinking 10:38 New findings 14:32 Global reactions 15:58 Safety improvements 17:00 Industry outlook 18:14 Conclusion -------- Like this video? Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/Bloomberg?sub_confirmation=1 Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com for just $1.99 your first month: https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions?in_source=YoutubeOriginals Bloomberg Originals offers bold takes for curious minds on today’s biggest topics. Hosted by experts covering stories you haven’t seen and viewpoints you haven’t heard, you’ll discover cinematic, data-led shows that investigate the intersection of business and culture. Exploring every angle of climate change, technology, finance, sports and beyond, Bloomberg Originals is business as you’ve never seen it. Subscribe for business news, but not as you've known it: exclusive interviews, fascinating profiles, data-driven analysis, and the latest in tech innovation from around the world. Visit our partner channel Bloomberg News for global news and insight in an instant.