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Supplied / Stuff
Southland man Lochie Bellerby, who was aboard a cattle boat when it sank off the coast of Japan.
A Givealittle page has been created to help fund the ongoing search efforts for the missing Southlander Lochie Bellerby.
Bellerby is one of two Kiwis and 40 crew members missing after the Gulf Livestock 1 sank off the coast of Japan on September 2.
The Givealittle page, created by family friends, says the money raised will go directly to help fund search efforts and bring all of the crew members home.
The family believes that Bellerby, along with the other Livestock 1 crew, are aboard a lifeboat outside the search area.
READ MORE:
* The owners of a cattle boat caught in a typhoon off Japan support calls from families to resume the search for the missing crew
* The family of a missing Southerner can organize a private search
* Gulf Livestock 1: Hope to find life is based on satellite technology
As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the amount raised was $ 19,174, with the goal of $ 100,000.
The page says there is hope that Bellerby is still alive because survivor reports say all but three of the crew members were on the ship’s bridge before it sank and were preparing to board the lifeboats.
“The funds raised will be combined with those raised by the Australians involved (Gofundme) to continue to assist in private search efforts, whether through satellite surveillance technology and drones, chartered search and rescue devices, media awareness campaigns. and search incentives.
“Lochie is a legend, loved by many. He is extremely capable, adventurous and certainly possesses the necessary character not only to overcome this, but to help others to get ahead. “
On Monday, Bellerby’s family expressed disappointment that the New Zealand government appeared to be putting its resources into recovering a black box “and not saving the lives of New Zealand citizens.”
RNZ
New Zealanders Scott Harris, left, and Lochie Bellerby were aboard the Gulf Livestock 1 cattle boat that capsized in a typhoon.
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 still unknown.
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.
Earlier this week, they provided Foreign Minister Winston Peters with the latest independent search and rescue coordinates suggesting that the missing crew, if on life rafts, would have passed through the Japanese island of Tanega Shima and were being transported. by the predictable but rapid -movement of the Kuroshio Current in a northeast direction along the southeast Japanese coast.
