TOKYO, Sept 3 (NNN-NHK) – Japan Coast Guard, launched a search operation on Wednesday, after a freighter with 43 foreign crew and about 5,800 cattle aboard went missing, while travelling west of Amami-Oshima Island, in Kagoshima Prefecture, south-western Japan.
The 11,947-tonne Gulf Livestock 1, sent a distress call around 1:45 a.m. local time, when it was about 185 km west of Amami-Oshima Island, according to the coast guard.
The crew members of the Panamanian-registered vessel were made up of two Australians, 39 Filipinos, including the captain, and two New Zealanders.
The coast guard initially said a Singaporean was aboard but then corrected it and said, that person was an Australian.
The coast guard dispatched patrol boats to the area, to search for the vessel, which left New Zealand on Aug 14, and was slated to arrive in China tomorrow.
Bad weather with strong winds and torrential rain took place in the area around 2:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, due to Typhoon Maysak, according to the weather station in Kagoshima.– NNN-NHK
