42 feared dead as ship capsizes off Japan

TOKYO – A Panamanian-flagged vessel carrying 6,000 cows and 43 crewmembers, including 39 Filipinos, sank off Japan waters after transmitting a distress signal during a typhoon.

The Gulf Livestock 1 issued the distress call early Wednesday 185 kilometers west of Japan’s Amami Oshima island.

By late Wednesday, Japan’s coast guard rescuers located only one survivor – the vessel’s chief officer Edwardo Sareno, one of the Filipinos on board the ship.

The 45-year-old officer said he had put on a life jacket and dived into the sea after a warning announcement on board.

He also said one of the boat’s engines had stalled. A wave then overturned the ship, which later sank, the coast guard said in a statement.

There were no details on when and where the ship sank, but Sareno said he had not seen other crewmembers while waiting to be rescued.

A rubber boat was spotted late Wednesday in the area being searched for survivors, but the Japanese coast guard said they had not confirmed if it was linked to the ship.

Three coast guard vessels, five planes and specially trained divers are involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

The ship’s crew also includes two New Zealanders and two Australians.

Gulf Livestock 1, which was en route from Napier in New Zealand to Tangshan in China, made a distress call on Wednesday from Amami Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture. The Japanese coast guard immediately deployed patrol boats and airplanes to conduct the search for the missing vessel, which was still ongoing yesterday.

Patrol planes of the Haneda Airbase Special Rescue Team also searched the area but did not find the ship in the area where the livestock carrier was last positioned.

The Philippine consulate general in Osaka is monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Japanese coast guard, which launched a second search and rescue mission prior to the expected incoming typhoon.

“So far, one Filipino was reported to have been rescued by the Japanese coast guard,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said, adding that it is coordinating with Korpil Ship Management and Manning Corp., the local manning agency, in ascertaining the condition of the Filipino seafarers.

The Department of Labor and Employment, through its Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Osaka in Japan, is also monitoring developments. – Pia Lee-Brago, Mayen Jaymalin