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The Southland man, Lochie Bellerby, was aboard a cattle ship that sank off the coast of Japan on September 2. He is still missing.
The family of the missing Southland man, Lochie Bellerby, says it is disappointing that the New Zealand government appears to be putting its resources into recovering a black box “and not saving the lives of New Zealand citizens.”
Bellerby and fellow New Zealander Scott Harris were among the 43 crew of Gulf Livestock 1 when it capsized and sank during a typhoon off the coast of Japan on September 2.
Two Filipino survivors have been found, but the two Kiwis and the two Australians are among the 40 crew members who are not yet known.
The Japanese Coast Guard has canceled their full-time search, but Bellerby’s parents, Guy and Lucy, believe their son may still be alive on a life raft.
” Just today, we provided the Foreign Minister with the latest independent search and rescue coordinates suggesting that we would expect the missing crew of Gulf Livestock 1 to have passed the Japanese island of Tanega Shima and are being transported by the predictable Kuroshio current. , but very fast, heading northeast along the southeast coast of Japan, ” the family said in a statement Monday.
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” Detailed information and maps have been provided to MFAT [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade], Maritime NZ, NZTA and the Prime Minister’s office in the hope that they would relay this urgent information to the Japanese authorities to assist with an immediate and strategic search of highly probable areas where the 40 missing crew members could be. ”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the MFAT had been tasked with continuing to provide all possible assistance to the families, and would update them as soon as any information arrives.
“This is an extremely difficult time for the families of New Zealanders on the ship.”
New Zealand stayed in close contact with the Japan Coast Guard through the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo.
“Officials have been asked, as a matter of priority, to transmit the new information obtained by the family to the Japanese authorities,” he said.
On Saturday, Peters told Newshub that officials were exploring the possibility of working with authorities in Panama, Australia and the Philippines, as well as the ship’s owners, to search for the ship’s black box, which would likely be an expensive and costly mission. hard. .
A Facebook post by a member of the Lochie Bellerby family on Sunday urged the public to email Peters to press for the search for the crew members to resume.
Over the weekend, Bellerby’s parents released the coordinates, after consulting with an independent marine expert, who suggested their son might be on a life raft 65 kilometers northeast of Kodakarajima Island, out into the open ocean. , if he’s still alive.
