It has been confirmed 4,179 sheep died on a sea voyage from Western Australia to the Middle East in September last year.

The public revelations come the same day the Federal Government released the findings of a report into multiple breaches of animal welfare regulations during live export operations.

The sheep were among 75,000 en route to Qatar and the UAE on the Bader 111, which is operated by Livestock Shipping Services (LSS).

It is believed they died due to searing temperatures in the Gulf of Oman, which Jordanian-owned LSS has described as unusual and unexpected at that time of year.

Animals Australia has rejected the claim by LSS that the extremely hot weather incident was out of the ordinary.

"Even on a normal summer's day in the Middle East the temperature can hover around 40 degrees, placing animals at high risk," Animals Australia's Lyn White said in a statement.

"The exporter can't say this incident is unexpected when weather conditions in all parts of the world are routinely becoming more extreme."

The incident has prompted the Greens to again call for a cessation of the trade, with Senator Lee Rhiannon planning to reintroduce her Live Export Bill into the Senate.

Agriculture Department says changes made after the sheep deaths at sea

The Federal Department of Agriculture has been investigating six alleged breaches of the Export Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS).

It has also released findings of another three investigations into livestock mortality.

Phillip Glyde is the deputy secretary with the Department of Agriculture, and he described the incident as one of the largest they've dealt with in recent years.

"The investigation found that the cause of death for 97 per cent of the sheep was heat stress; essentially the vessel ran into a day of extremely hot weather conditions.

"It's always hot in the Gulf but this was particularly hot and on that particular day there was a very significant, and reportable, mortality event.

"The immediate implication of course was that when we were considering the next consignment we had to make some judgements about whether or not that stocking level was appropriate, and so for the next consignment the sheep were provided ten per cent additional space and that voyage went through without any difficulties whatsoever.

"We haven't had any reportable mortality incidences in the trade since about the middle of 2011 which is why this one is particularly concerning to us; we had such a pretty good track record in years that we had this really significant event and so again we learn from that."

LSS defends its role in live export deaths

A statement from the livestock exporter Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) says the total number of sheep on the vessel was 75,508, total number of deaths 4,179 and the total mortality percentage was 5.53 per cent.

"Approximately 20 per cent of the sheep that died on the voyage were loaded in WA, the rest were loaded in South Australia.

"The majority of the sheep died during an extreme weather event on day 21 of the voyage.

"The sheep were loaded in accordance with the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL) and met the requirements in relation to stocking density on board the ship and the amount of fodder on board."

NT Cattlemen's Assoc wants more action on ESCAS breaches

Luke Bowen, of the NT Cattlemen's Association, says these sorts of incidents are disappointing and shocking, and should be dealt with fully.

"There's a system in place now and if they (LSS) has been shown to have broken the rules, they need to throw the book at them. Full stop.

"It depends on what the outcome of the investigation is, but if that's what the penalty is (LSS loses its licence), then go for it.

"We have to be really, really definite about this. It's a system that's been put in place to protect the welfare of these animals going abroad, and it's there to pick up the transgressors and when they do (break the rules), throw the book at them."

Australian Livestock Exporters Council says deaths at sea hurts the industry

Peter Kane, the chairman of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, says the latest incident is damaging to the industry.

"This event, and other events that do occur, really do disappoint us; and they hurt us because Australian livestock exporters are trying very hard to achieve the best possible welfare outcomes.

"When events such as this occur it does reflect poorly upon us, especially at a time when we're putting in so much effort to make improvements."