Dozens missing after live cattle ship capsizes with Kiwis onboard

A Filipino crew member believed to be onboard Gulf Livestock 1, a cargo ship carrying livestock and dozens of crew members that went missing after issuing a distress signal due to Typhoon Maysak, is rescued by a Japan Coast Guard boat. Photo: Japanese Coast Guard via Reuters

• Live cattle exports suspended

The Gulf Livestock 1 sent a distress call from the west of Amami Oshima island in southwestern Japan. Strong winds and rains from Typhoon Maysak were hampering rescue efforts as the storm moved on to drench the Korean peninsula.

The ship is sailing from Napier to China with two New Zealand crew members on-board.

Japan's coastguard said it rescued one crew member, Sareno Edvarodo, a 45-year-old chief officer from the Philippines, on on Wednesday night (Tokyo time) while searching for the ship.

According to Edvarodo, the ship lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and capsized, a coastguard spokeswoman said.

When the ship capsized, crew were instructed to put on lifejackets. Edvarodo said he jumped into the water and did not see any other crew members before he was rescued.

Pictures provided by the coastguard showed a person in a lifejacket being hauled from choppy seas in darkness.

The Gulf Livestock 1 departed Napier on August 14 and is now reported to be missing. Photo / Vessel Finder

The Gulf Livestock 1 departed Napier in New Zealand on Aug. 14 with 5,867 cattle and 43 crew members on board, bound for the Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, China. The journey was expected to take about 17 days, New Zealand's foreign ministry told Reuters.

The crew included 39 people from the Philippines, two from New Zealand, and two from Australia, the coastguard said.

The Philippines government said it was coordinating with the Japanese coastguard as it searched for the missing crew members ahead of another typhoon building in the region.

Typhoon Haishen is brewing south of Japan and is expected to hit the Korean coast on Sunday or Monday.

At least one person was reported killed in South Korea in the southern city of Busan after Typhoon Maysak made landfall on Thursday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

The 139m, Panamanian-flagged vessel was built in 2002 and the registered owner is Amman-based Rahmeh Compania Naviera SA, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The ship manager is Hijazi & Ghosheh Co.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said told New Zealand Herald he was informed of the distress call and search last night.

"I very much hope all the crew on board are safe. My thoughts are with their families, this will be a very difficult time for them as the search continues.

"Officials from Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the exporter. I am awaiting an update on the situation."

Because it was an overseas incident, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was the lead agency, a spokesperson said.

Graphic: Reuters

New Zealand animal rights organisation, Safe, said the tragedy demonstrated the risks of the live animal export trade.

"These cows should never have been at sea," said Campaigns Manager Marianne Macdonald.

"This is a real crisis, and our thoughts are with the families of the 43 crew who are missing with the ship. But questions remain, including why this trade is allowed to continue."

Macdonald said the cows are "likely all pregnant".

However, an MPI spokeswoman confirmed that none of the livestock on board were pregnant.

"No MPI staff were on board the Gulf Livestock 1," she added.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said they are providing "consular assistance" to the families of two New Zealanders aboard.

Last year, New Zealand's government launched a review of country's live export trade, worth around NZ$54 million in 2019, after thousands of animals being exported from New Zealand and Australia died in transit.

A conditional ban on the live export of cattle was one of several options being considered, O'Connor said.

With NZ Herald