Cattle ship capsized, rescued survivor says
AUCKLAND/WELLINGTON/ TOKYO: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has halted considering cattle livestock export applications after a ship that recently left New Zealand appears to have sunk.
Rescuers were last night searching for livestock carrier Gulf Livestock 1 and 42 of its crew members, including two New Zealanders.
A rescued survivor from the vessel said it sank off a southern Japanese island, after making a distress call in seas made rough by a typhoon.
The ship was sailing from Napier to China with more than 5800 cows on board.
Japan Coast Guard said it had rescued one crew member, Sareno Edvarodo, a 45yearold chief officer from the Philippines, during the search.
According to Edvarodo, the vessel lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and sank during rough weather, 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 before he was rescued.
Three vessels, five airplanes and two divers had been deployed to continue the search, Japan Coast Guard 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.
MPI said it had temporarily suspended considering cattle livestock export applications after the vessel went missing.
‘‘MPI wants to understand what happened on the sailing of the Gulf Livestock 1,’’ a spokesman said.
The ship departed Napier on August 14 carrying 5867 cows and reportedly 43 crew mem
bers, including two people from New Zealand, 39 from the Philippines, one from Australia and one from Singapore.
The ship was on the way to the Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, China, an estimated journey of about 17 days.
New Zealand Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said he was informed of the distress call and search on Wednesday 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,’’ he said.
‘‘Officials from MPI are working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the exporter.’’
Because it was an overseas incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the lead agency, a spokesman said.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said it was providing ‘‘consular assistance’’ to the families of two New Zealanders aboard.
A statement from the vessel’s Melbournebased charter operator, Australasian Global Exports, released last night, said the company’s primary concern was for the safety and
wellbeing of the crew.
‘‘Four of those people are treasured friends and work colleagues. The remaining people on board are engaged by the ship’s owner,’’ it said.
‘‘We are in full contact with the families of our four colleagues and are offering them all the support we can.
‘‘Our thoughts and prayers are also with the ship’s officers, crew and other personnel and their families.
‘‘As this is an unfolding situation where Typhoon Maysak was reported to be a category 3 storm with winds of around 200kmh, we sincerely thank the Japanese Coastguard for their ongoing efforts.’’
Animal rights organisation SAFE said the tragedy demonstrated the risks of the live animal export trade.
‘‘These cows should never have been at sea,’’ campaigns manager Marianne Macdonald said.
‘‘This is a real crisis, and our thoughts are with the families of the 43 crew who are missing with the ship,’’ she said.
‘‘But questions remain, including why this trade is allowed to continue.’’