Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A ship carrying 2,901 Uruguayan cows has been stranded off the coast of Turkey for more than three weeks, unable to unload its cargo because of a dispute over veterinary certification between the exporting company and the importer.
Authorities from Turkey and Uruguay met to resolve the standoff, but no agreement was reached, and the ship started to return to Montevideo, with an estimated arrival date of Dec. 14.
The cows "are on the ship returning to Uruguay, but what we have discussed with those responsible is that they will try along the way to redirect the animals to another market," Marcelo Rodríguez, director of Livestock Services at Uruguay's Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, told the press.
The Spiridon II, a Togo-flagged ship built in 1973, left Montevideo on Sept. 19 bound for Turkey with cattle intended for fattening and breeding.
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