Animal activists have renewed calls to end the exportation of live sheep and cattle from Australia, after a ship carrying thousands of livestock sank off the Lebanese coast.
The cargo ship, carrying about 10,000 sheep and 18,000 cattle, sank on Thursday on its way from Uruguay to Syria.
Rescue teams from three countries and the United Nations have stepped up their search for survivors of the freighter carrying more than 80 people, including an Australian.
Animals Australia says it should serve as a wake-up call to the federal government.
"There are inherent and unacceptable risks every time these huge livestock vessels take to sea," the organisation's executive director Glenys Oogjes said in a statement on Saturday.
"When something goes wrong, such as fire, ventilation breakdown or extremes of weather, thousands of lives are lost."
Animals Australia says more than 40,000 sheep die on Australian ships each year from starvation and illness.
