Freighter Distressed off Japan Sank, Rescued Crew Member Says

Kagoshima, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)--The rescued male Filipino crew member of a Panamanian-registered freighter distressed off Japan has said that the ship sank after capsizing, Japan Coast Guard officials said Thursday. The coast guard is searching for 42 other non-Japanese crew members of the 11,947-ton Gulf Livestock 1, which was carrying some 5,800 head of cattle. The coast guard's 10th regional headquarters in the city of Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, received a distress signal from the ship when it was sailing in East China Sea waters west of Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture early Wednesday. The rescued crew member told the coast guard that the ship became unnavigable after an engine stopped, and that waves caused it to overturn, according to the officials. He said that he jumped into the sea wearing a life jacket and saw the ship sinking, adding that he saw no other crew member do as he did. The freighter was sailing in stormy weather caused by Typhoon Maysak, the ninth typhoon of the year. The ship left New Zealand on Aug. 14 and was scheduled to arrive in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China, on Friday this week. END