Ponta Delgada, Portugal, May 27, 2025 (Lusa) - The Azores regional government is working with Portugal's national maritime authorities to "try to clarify" aspects that condition the transport of cargo to the mainland, the regional director for mobility, Francisco Bettencourt, told Lusa on Tuesday.
According to the official, the Azores government, the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) and the Mobility and Transport Institute (IMT) are "trying to clarify some aspects" of the law in force that are out of step with the current reality of cargo movement to the mainland.
The Azores branch of the far-right Chega party, in a request sent to the Azores regional assembly published on Tuesday, states that "for weeks now, more than two hundred head of cattle have been held up on the islands of Pico and Graciosa due to a lack of maritime transport for them to reach the mainland."
Contacted by Lusa about this situation, the regional director for mobility stated that even if it is not possible to ensure that all the cattle are transported by sea, "at least part" should make it this week.
However, he stressed, this "always depends on the loading capacity" of the ship involved.
In its release on Tuesday, Chega emphasises that the situation "is leaving cattle producers with no options to keep their animals, jeopardising their income."
In the document, the Chega members ask which shipping companies carry live cattle and what has made it impossible to transport the live cattle that have been stranded for weeks, waiting for transport.
"Is the regional government aware of the number of live cattle that have been held up, particularly in Graciosa and Pico, due to a lack of transport to the mainland?" ask the members of the assembly, who also want to know if the regional government - a coalition between the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), conservative People's Party (CDS) and People's Monachist Party (PPM) - has taken steps to resolve the problem with the shipping companies.
The Chega members also question whether the companies that transport live cattle can refuse to take the animals on board and what the legal reasons are for this refusal.
"Chega wants explanations about this situation," the Chega release quotes member Francisco Lima as saying. "It's unacceptable that the animals have been waiting for weeks to leave our islands for the mainland and no one is taking responsibility."
Last week, farmers on the island of Graciosa called on the regional government to find an alternative solution to the ship that was to carry the cattle, which is in dry dock, pointing out that this is "seriously affecting" their income.
In a statement, the farmers said that "despite the fact that the Azorean government has managed to ensure that Graciosa Island has weekly maritime transport, the last shipment of cattle took place almost a month ago (23 April).
"Today [22 May], around 200 head of cattle were scheduled to leave, but it didn't happen because the ship that normally makes the route is in dry dock and the one that is replacing it only makes local traffic, without the possibility of placing the cattle in time at one of the ports where goods are dispatched to the mainland," the note continues.
On Tuesday, the Azores Agricultural Federation (FAA) also said in a news release that the "constraints that have been publicised" by the Graciosa Farmers' Association “regarding the departure of live cattle from that island are an example of the fact that the maritime freight transport model is flawed, in addition to the delays and/or route changes due to weather conditions.”
JME/ARO // ARO.
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