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TOKYO (AFP): Rescuers from the Japanese coast guard searched on Thursday (September 3) for the remaining 42 crew members of a ship believed to have sunk in a typhoon, after a lone survivor was found floating in a vest lifeguard.
Gulf Livestock 1, which was carrying a load of nearly 6,000 cows, issued a distress call in the early hours of Wednesday from a position 185 kilometers west of the Japanese island Amami Oshima.
Japan’s coast guard sent planes and rescue boats to search for the ship and found a lone survivor on Wednesday night: the ship’s 45-year-old Philippine chief officer.
Dramatic footage released by the coast guard showed the man floating in the dark in an orange life jacket and being lifted into a rescue boat on a rope.
The man told rescuers that he had donned a life jacket and jumped into the sea after a warning announcement on board Wednesday as powerful Typhoon Maysak passed through the area.
He said one of the ship’s engines stopped and a wave capsized the ship, which then sank, the coast guard said in a statement.
There were no details on when and where the ship sank, but the man said he had not seen other members of the crew while waiting to be rescued.
A rubber boat was spotted Wednesday night in the area where survivors were being searched, but the coast guard said they had not confirmed whether it was linked to the boat.
Three coast guard ships, five aircraft and specially trained divers are involved in the search and rescue operation.
Japan is currently in its annual typhoon season, and a second massive storm is on its way to hit the same area around Sunday, according to local forecasters, which could limit how long the coast guard can continue to search.
The ship was carrying a crew of 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders and two Australians, and Australia-based Australasian Global Exports commissioned it to transport the cattle.
He was reportedly traveling from Napier in New Zealand to the Chinese port of Tangshan.
Australasian Global Exports said it was in contact with the families of some crew members, as well as local authorities, but did not offer further details.
“Our thoughts and prayers are also with the ship’s officers, the crew and other personnel and their families,” he added.
The New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said it would temporarily suspend exports of live cattle after the accident.
“MPI wants to understand what happened while sailing the Gulf Livestock 1,” he said.
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