Two Australians caught on live export ship missing in typhoon off coast of Japan

A live export ship with 43 people, including two Australians, on board has disappeared off the coast of Japan during a typhoon.

The live cattle ship Gulf Livestock 1 which is missing in the South China Sea with a cargo of 5800 cattle and a crew of 43 including two Australians.

Japan’s coast guard says one person was found during a search for an live export ship with 43 people, including two Australians, on board after receiving a distress call from the East China Sea during a typhoon.

An alarm signal was received in the early hours from a vessel around 185 kilometres west of Japan’s Amami Oshima island, the coast guard said.

The crew reportedly includes two Australians, two New Zealanders and 39 Filipinos. The ship was said to be carrying 5800 head of cattle.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is providing “consular assistance to the families of two Australian crew members on board a cargo vessel reported missing in Japanese waters”.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” a DFAT spokesperson told news.com.au.

Japan’s coast guard said it believed the call for help had been sent by the ship, Gulf Livestock 1, en route to the Chinese port of Tangshan from Napier in New Zealand.

Livestock carrier goes missing in the East China Sea

The GULF LIVESTOCK 1 has disappeared, probably hit by high waves & strong winds caused by typhoon #MAYSAK, our data shows. The search for the livestock carrier in load began as concern for the safety of 43 crew onboard rises pic.twitter.com/6H3yGOkUqr

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) September 2, 2020

“We were informed by the defence ministry that a person wearing a life jacket was found” in the sea where the ship went missing, a coast guard official told AFP.

The person, whose identity and condition is unclear, was found by a patrol plane sent by the defence ministry.

A rubber boat was also spotted from the plane, but the coast guard official said they have not confirmed if it belonged to the ship.

Four coast guard vessels and several planes were involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

One of the vessels arrived in the area more than 10 hours from the distress call and three were still heading there in stormy conditions.

The coast guard said it had not detected any additional signals. The distress call came as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the area overnight with the passage of Typhoon Maysak.