The two rescued Filipino crew members of the Panamanian-flagged vessel Gulf Livestock-1 that sank in the waters off Amami Oshima in the East China Sea will be returning home tomorrow, September 19, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
Earlier reports identified the two seafarers as Eduardo Sareno, 45, and Jay-Nel Rosales, 30. The ship’s crew includes a total of 39 Filipinos, 2 New Zealand, 1 Australian, and 1 Singaporean.
The two were the only crew members of the ship who were found alive by the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) since the vessel went missing on September 2, 2020, shortly after transmitting a distress call from an area being battered by Typhoon Haishen at that time.
Japanese rescuers immediately launched a search and rescue that led to the recovery of the two Filipino crew. One crew member was found floating and was later pronounced dead.
The Japanese Coast Guard had to temporarily suspend its search and rescue operations due to the typhoon. No clue of the missing vessel nor its crew members were found since the search resumed on September 7.
No further developments on the ongoing rescue were issued up to this date.
Apart from the other missing crew members, the cargo vessel was also carrying nearly 6,000 live cattle from New Zealand and was headed for China when the incident occurred.