When the 425-foot cargo freighter Artisgracht left Eastport on July 18, there were 470 pregnant dairy cows riding on deck in newly patented livestock containers. The success of the 13-day trip to Turkey was measured in numbers: 472 cows landed safely. The cargo was shipped by Sexing Technologies of Navasoto Texas, which holds a semen gender selection patent as well as the patent for the containers. Turkey, which is expanding its dairy industry, plans to purchase up to 9000 dairy cows from Sexing Technology who can guarantee up to 80% female offspring from their impregnated stock. Transport in a Comfort Animal Transport Suite (CATS) is a modern means of assuring safe comfortable export.
Eastport is the closest U.S. port to the Middle East and Maine is a “blue tongue disease free” state, a required certification for import into many ports including Turkey. In addition, in order to ship livestock the port must have a special permit from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A temporary exemption was given to Eastport for this first shipment. Throughout the loading process three representatives from the USDA observed the operations. Jose Luaces, a USDA animal health technician who was supervising the process, recently commented from his Florida office “I just learned that they all arrived alive and well plus two, the first born was named Artisgracht. Everything went extremely well.”
On this initial run, Eastport’s longshoremen (Northeastern Longshoreman’s Association, NELA no. 1) had already loaded the cargo hold with pulp from the Domtar Paper Co. of Baileyville. From late afternoon until daybreak, the cows were loaded. They were first lead off the transport trailers, into the CATS containers that were then lifted onto trucks and then onto the ships deck. Chris Gardner, Eastport port authority director praises the crew, “They did not have to work through the night, but knowing how important this shipment was, they stuck with it.” It was not just the longshoremen that stepped up to the plate. Gardner tells of the “bucket caper”, when hardware store owners from Eastport to Calais were contacted after hours to sell the port 150 five-gallon buckets. “With all the disadvantages of being where we are, there are some advantages. I do not think a big box hardware store would have been able to cooperate at that level.”
This dedication did not go unnoticed by Jaun Moreno, co-CEO of Sexing Technologies, who was reached at a Paris train station on his way back from Turkey. “You could not write a better description of how things should go”. In terms of the future he added, “The world of live export of animals is surging. People want their animals treated well and door after door is opening.” Later this month, his next shipment should be leaving Maine.
Peter Clark director of the freight forwarder, Cyber Freight out of St John, New Brunswick, who acted as shipping facilitator, said that “shipping live stock is not for the faint of heart.” The Spliethoff Group, the Dutch carrier that owns and operates the line, saw this first shipment as a trial run, but now appears ready to take future livestock shipments out of Eastport. Clark notes that the projected volume of cows for export-up to 12,000 in the next year-and the need to identify appropriate carriers, determined by cargo, destination and willingness, will require more than one port. Portland is also being considered as a potential port for livestock shipment. “In the past, the competition for livestock transport was air freight; often resulting in mortalities, but this method is favored as a humane means of providing delivery of healthy animals.”
In Eastport people are gearing up for the next shipment later this month. Skip Rodgers manager of Federal Marine Terminals said that empty livestock containers should be arriving any day. Jay Roebuck of Roebuck Farm in Turner, who held and quarantined the livestock before transporting them to Eastport, is currently picking up cows at various farms in Maine and Northern New England. Although cows from the original shipment came from farms in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, futures shipments will contain some local livestock.
The permit exemption will remain in place until a decision is made on final approval. Chris Gardner, Eastport port director, working with help of representatives of Snowe, Collins and Michaud’s offices, has sent the official permit application to the USDA office in Washington. With the groundswell of support and the success of the first shipment, all indications are that the permit will be granted and Eastport will have the opportunity for regular shipment of livestock.
Leslie Bowman is a freelance writer and photographer living in Trescott, Maine