TOKYO • More than 40 crew members were missing after a ship carrying cattle from New Zealand to China capsized in the East China Sea, as Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas, the Japanese coast guard said yesterday.

A lone crew member from the Gulf Livestock 1 has been rescued so far. Three vessels, four airplanes and two divers were taking part in the search.

The ship, which had a cargo of nearly 6,000 cattle, sent a distress call from the west of Amami Oshima island in south-western Japan on Wednesday, as Typhoon Maysak barrelled towards the Korean peninsula.

Mr Sareno Edvarodo, a 45-year-old chief officer from the Philippines, was rescued on Wednesday night, Japan’s coastguard said.

The crew of 43 was made up of 39 people from the Philippines, two from New Zealand, and two from Australia, the coast guard said.

According to Mr Edvarodo, the ship lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and capsized, a coast guard spokesman said.

When the ship tipped over, the crew were instructed to put on life jackets. Mr Edvarodo told the coast guard he jumped into the water and did not see any other crew members before he was rescued.

The Philippine government said it was coordinating with the Japanese coast guard in the search.

Typhoon Maysak made landfall in South Korea yesterday.

At least two people were reported killed and thousands were temporarily without power as Typhoon Maysak brought heavy rain and lashing winds to areas still recovering from Typhoon Bavi.

The ninth typhoon of the season and the fourth to hit the peninsula this year left about 120,000 households without power, officials said. Flights were cancelled or delayed, and downed trees and other debris caused light damage, Yonhap news agency reported.

One person died when winds shattered a window in South Korea’s second-largest city of Busan, which bore the brunt of the storm’s 170kmh winds.

Another man in the city was found dead, believed to have fallen from the roof of his house while repairing a leak, Yonhap reported.

The peninsula typically sees only one typhoon a year, but another typhoon, Haishen, is brewing south of Japan and is expected to hit the Korean coast next Sunday or Monday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth Observatory reported.

Some of the areas hardest hit yesterday were still counting the cost of last week’s Typhoon Bavi and one of the wettest monsoon seasons on record.

North Korea took the brunt of Typhoon Bavi, and for a second week in a row, state TV carried rare live reports of storm surge and flooding, including in the coastal town of Wonsan.

REUTERS

Source: Read Full Article