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Support is being provided to the families of two New Zealanders who were aboard a ship carrying thousands of live cows believed to have sunk in a storm.
Speaking to reporters at Morrinsville College on Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had not been in contact with the families of the two New Zealanders on the ship.
“But I looked for information on whether or not they were receiving support and I understand that they are,” he said.
Manuel Hernández Lafuente / Supplied
The Gulf Livestock 1, a Panama registered freighter, was built in 2002.
“Obviously the key for us will be to make sure they get as much information as possible.”
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Officials were waiting for a new briefing from the Japanese coast guard, Ardern said.
The coast guard found a third crew member on Friday (local time) in waters where the ship traveling from Napier to China is believed to have sunk.
The man rescued is Jay-nel Rosals, a Filipino sailor. He was wearing a life jacket and was floating on a raft north of Amami Oshima Island in the East China Sea.
STUFF
Live animal exports are a significant source of income.
Earlier on Friday, Coast Guard rescuers had also found an unconscious man floating face down about 75 miles northwest of the island. He was declared dead at the hospital.
Another member of the Philippine crew, Chief Officer Edvardo Sareno, was rescued Wednesday night.
The ship Gulf Livestock 1, its 43 crew and 5,800 cows left Napier in mid-August for Tangshan on the east coast of China.
The crew included 39 from the Philippines, two from New Zealand and two from Australia.
BENN BATHGATE / Things
Jacinda Ardern visits Morrinsville College.
The ship had sent out a distress call amid strong winds and rough seas from Typhoon Maysak.
Rescuers in three patrol boats, three planes and divers joined the search operations. A package of orange rope and a life jacket bearing the ship’s name were also recovered, according to a Coast Guard statement.
Another powerful typhoon approaches southern Japan over the weekend.
In his comments in Morrinsville on Saturday, Ardern noted that exports of live animals had stopped while the incident was being investigated.
Brochure / Japan Coast Guard
A crew member of the missing ship calls for help from a life raft.
An assessment of the role of live exports for New Zealand was already underway before the ship disappeared, he said.
He would not anticipate the outcome of that work, saying it would be something the Cabinet should consider.
In mid-afternoon on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it had no update. He remained in contact with the Japanese authorities as part of his consular response.
