Japan coast guard continues search for missing cargo ship with 38 Filipinos
By J. Jala | 11:04 PM September 03, 2020
A Boholano seafarer was one of the 38 Filipinos missing after a cargo ship reportedly sank after a typhoon battered the vessel near Japan.
Bohol Island News decided to withhold the name of the seaman, who accordingly hails from Tubigon town since authorities are yet to reach the concerned family members.
Japan’s coast guard has been searching for 42 missing sailors a day after a cargo ship carrying cattles sank in the East China Sea as a typhoon was sighted nearby.
One Filipino crew member was rescued from the Gulf Livestock 1, which sent a distress call from west of the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima Wednesday night, the Japanese coast guard said.
The Filipino crew member was rescued a few hours after when Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft spotted him wearing a life vest and waving while bobbing in the water.
The Filipino survivor, who is in good health, told rescuers the ship capsized before sinking, said spokesman Yuichiro Higashi at the Japanese coast guard’s regional headquarters conducting the search.
The 11,947-ton Gulf Livestock 1 ship was carrying 5,800 cows west of the western coast of Amami Oshima in the East China Sea when it sent a distress call early Wednesday.
While the cause of the distress was not immediately known, the weather was rough in the area due to Typhoon Maysak.
The typhoon has since passed the area and the weather during the ongoing search has improved, Higashi said.
The ship’s other crew include 38 from the Philippines, two from New Zealand, and another two from Australia.
The ship, owned by Gulf Navigation Holding based in the United Arab Emirates, left the port of Nepier in northeastern New Zealand in mid-August and was on its way to the port of Tangshan on China’s eastern coast.
