Australia is still negotiating with several countries today to resolve the plight of 50,000 sheep stranded at sea despite hopes that officials could reach a resolution by the weekend.
"Negotiations are still proceeding at diplomatic and commercial levels to endeavour to find a place to unload the sheep," Agriculture Minister Warren Truss told the Australian Ten Network's Meet the Presstelevision programme.
"Certainly no arrangements, no final agreement has yet been reached," said Mr Truss, adding that several countries were involved in the complex negotiations.
"Those negotiations are quite sensitive, quite difficult, but our priority is to try and find a place to unload them as quickly as possible because the welfare of the sheep are the priority," he said.
The sheep, now entering their eighth week at sea, were turned away by Saudi Arabia on August 28tht as an unacceptable six per cent of them had "scabby mouth" disease, a low-grade ovine infection.
Over 4,200 of the nearly 58,000 sheep originally aboard the vessel have died because of heat stress since the saga began, prompting animal rights groups to demand the immediate slaughter of the entire cargo and the end to Australia's A$1 billion a year trade in livestock.