By Roy Mabasa and Agence France-Presse
A Panamanian-registered freighter cargo ship carrying 43 crew, including 39 Filipinos and 5,800 cows, sank off the waters of Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
(AFP / 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters / MANILA BULLETIN)
But, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is verifying with the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and its other foreign posts the report that a Panamanian-registered freighter with 43 crewmembers, including 39 Filipinos, went missing off the waters of Amami Oshima Island in southwestern Japan.
“We’re checking with our posts in Japan, “ the DFA said in a message sent to reporters.
According to reports, MV Gulf Livestock 1 was reportedly ferrying cattle from Napier, New Zealand to Tangshan, China when it issued a distress signal at around 1:20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. in the Philippines) on Wednesday some 115 miles west of Oshima Island.
Japanese Coast Guard operatives are conducting search and rescue operations most specifically in the area where typhoon "Maysak" ("Julian" in the Philippines) packed with 130 mph winds, was last reported.
The Gulf Livestock 1 was the same ship assisted by the Philippine Navy 1 recently when it lost propulsion off Balut Island in Davao Occidental.
Late Wednesday, coast guard rescuers located one survivor, a man identified as a 45-year-old Filipino chief officer, who said he had put on a life jacket and dived into the sea after a warning announcement on board.
He said one of the boat's engines had stalled and a wave then overturned the ship, which later sank, the coast guard said in a statement.
A rubber boat was spotted late Wednesday in the area being searched for survivors, but the 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-andrescue operation.
Aside from the 39 Filipinos, the ship was carrying two New Zealanders and two Australians, as well as 5,800 cows.