The sheeps' bodies are heaped and bundled up in plastic and released overboard, their melted innards spewing into the sea. Lynn Simpson, a vet who has been on 57 voyages, viewed the footage for Fairfax Media and said the almost liquid condition of the carcasses and the state of their limbs popping off at the slightest handling showed the animals had effectively boiled to death. "It's gross," she said. "These animals are cooking alive.” Dr Simpson said the extreme heat the animals endured meant their bodies fell apart at the lightest pressure in the same way slow-cooked lamb or beef does when served and eaten. The Awassi Express pictured in Fremantle in 2015.

“If you think of all those Jamie Oliver TV shows and he spruiks on about slow-cooked meat, it just makes me feel sick. “I’m someone who does eat a little bit of meat, but you can’t get me to eat sheep to save my life, because after these events, especially these animals, these bodies are actually cooked, this is cooked meat but often they're alive before they finish cooking," she said. She said the smell would be "foul" for those on-board. "It stinks - if that was a scratch and sniff, you wouldn't go anywhere near this video." Dr Simpson said the footage showed there was no humane way to transport animals, en masse, especially through hot climates. Veterinarian Dr Lynn Simpson. Credit:ABC/7.30

Last month, 60 Minutes broadcast some of the footage, showing sheep in extreme stress, crammed into their pens and visibly panting. Dr Simpson said the sheep packed in together would add to the overall heat and the animals' internal friction, sending their temperatures nearly 10 degrees higher than their regular body temperature of about 39 degrees. She recalled on one ship how she had to start killing sheep that were dying from the heat. When she slit one animal's throat its blood spurted onto her arm, scalding her skin. She tested the next animal she killed and its temperature measured 47 degrees. When she conducted autopsies, the fat around their heart was a translucent jelly instead of solid white. "They've literally melted and you're nearly at that gravy-making stage, which is really gross." Loading The footage also shows thick effluent from the ship pouring into the ocean, staining the blue sea with a stream of turgid muck that extends for kilometres.

The video was filmed by a whistleblower who worked on the Awassi Express last year and used an iPhone to capture the horrific scenes over five separate voyages between Australia and the Middle East. The worst was in August, when 2400 of the 63,804 sheep on the Awassi Express died from heat stress during a single voyage from Fremantle to Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. On day 15 of the 21-day journey, 880 sheep dropped dead from heat stroke. The total death rate, at possibly 3.79 per cent, was nearly double the 2 per cent limit that triggers an automatic government review. The Department of Agriculture cleared the voyage of any breaches; that investigation was reopened after 60 Minutes aired the initial footage, which also showed that despite it being forbidden to allow pregnant ewes on board, lambs were born during the voyage. They had their throats cut and their bodies were tossed overboard. In a letter to producers, Emanuel Exports managing director Graham Daws said the company was "proud of our industry", insisting it was "accountable, transparent and ethically sustainable". He said the company had "had nothing but support from the livestock industry and members of the community" since the "release of extremely distressing footage". "Whilst acknowledging the distress the incident has caused, it is a sad indictment that commentators have given no credit to the officers and crew of the vessel, including the Australian veterinarian and stockmen, who all worked under very difficult circumstances and prevented further losses," he said.

Workers suffering alongside the animals But Dr Simpson said the scenes revealed in the footage were worse than any voyage she had travelled on and were well beyond what workers handling animals should be subjected to. She said the ship workers were at risk of contracting salmonella, ringworm and a scabbing condition, and would be exposed to unsafe levels of ammonia emitting from the sheep’s urine. Further, she said the foul conditions meant the crew were at high risk of back injury from lifting heavy animals while trying simultaneously to "stand as far back as they possibly can". Dr Simpson said the workers would also be experiencing heat stress and recalled how she had once guzzled 12 litres of water and barely urinated on a live-export trip.

The ship's crew comprises between 60-70 people as well as the Australian stockperson and Australian government-accredited veterinarian, said Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, which the Australian Meat and Livestock Council said, as the importer of sheep, owns the animals once they arrive at port in Australia. The crew are mostly from the sub-continent and are required during emergency situations, such as the mass fatality, to manage the movement of the animals and carcasses. The whistleblower took the footage to Animals Australia. Lynn White of Animals Australia provided the video to the Department of Agriculture and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. “We were concerned that the workers on the animal decks are effectively enduring the same dreadful conditions during the Middle East summer that the animals are,” she said. “These poorly paid Filipino workers were left to deal with the thousands of melted, decomposing sheep carcasses. They are effectively ‘cleaning up’ after an Australian industry, yet are not protected by the worker safety provisions,” the former policewoman said.

Paddy Crumlin, of the Maritime Union of Australia and International Transport Workers’ Federation, said the video showed the “living hell” that was the life of a poorly paid crew member on board having to deal with the “barbaric practices” of the live export trade. “This new footage is a terrifying reminder of what life can be like at sea when workers have no rights. It’s a living hell,” he said. "There are serious concerns about the long-term mental and physical health of the crew members working under these conditions: in sheep effluent up to their waist and removing sheep carcasses in advanced states of decomposition,” he said. “These exploited seafarers appear to have insufficient equipment or training to handle animals at sea and little control to improve conditions. “It is shocking that any seafarer could be forced to work in the furnace-like conditions on board the Awassi Express."

The MUA wants a temporary ban on the trade until the industry can work out if the industry has a future at all. "Whether or not the live trade continues, we need to have workers with rights onboard live export vessels," Mr Crumlin said. "Seafarers on board these vessels often have no rights, are paid slave wages, and are treated inhumanely.” Kuwait Livestock Trading and Transport said "any health issues prompt a medical examination, followed up with further medical care and supervision as needed" and are covered under insurance. Momentum growing for an outright ban

The new footage comes amid surging political momentum for an outright ban on the live export trade. Australia is the world's largest exporter of sheep and cattle. A ban would bring it into line with New Zealand, which ended live exports for slaughter more than a decade ago. Last month, Theresa May's centre-right government in Britain announced it was also considering a ban. This week, the Labor Party said it was now convinced that the trade could not be fixed and would be phased out if it wins the next election, due next year. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the pledge as a repeat of what he said was an "economically reckless" and "emotional decision" by former prime minister Julia Gillard to ban the trade to Indonesia overnight when abuses of animals shipped there by Australia were exposed in 2011. But Mr Turnbull is facing internal pressure to match Labor’s move. Victorian Coalition backbenchers Sussan Ley and Jason Wood also want a total ban and Ms Ley has said she will introduce a private member's bill for a ban into the lower house, where Mr Turnbull has just a one-seat majority. The government is waiting for the findings of a review it ordered following the 60 Minutes report. David Littleproud, the Agriculture Minister, ordered the investigation after viewing some of the footage. The Nationals MP said it was “bullshit” that sheep were still dying at sea and also commissioned an investigation into the department over concerns that regulation of the industry is failing.