Overview
- After weeks at anchor off Bandirma, the Spiridon II left the Sea of Marmara and is now in the Mediterranean on a return course to Uruguay.
- Turkish authorities cite irregular identification and veterinary documentation, marking 15 certificates as “RECHAZADO” and flagging hundreds of cattle with missing or unreadable tags.
- Uruguayan officials insist the shipment meets sanitary standards and frame the impasse as a commercial dispute between the exporter and the Turkish importer.
- A virtual meeting between both governments ended without a deal, and animal‑welfare groups report limited feed and mounting losses, with accounts of 48 to 58 cattle dead and numerous births on board.
- Turkey receives about 90% of Uruguay’s live‑cattle exports, connecting the unresolved case to a trade worth roughly $300 million this year.