Lukas Orda has been named as one of Australians on board the ship. Photo / Supplied
Lukas Orda has been named as one of Australians on board the ship. Photo / Supplied
An Australian vet has been named as among those on a live-cattle export ship that has gone missing after a typhoon hit waters southwest of Japan.
Lukas Orda has been named as one of Australians on board the ship. Photo / Supplied
Japanese rescuers were searching today for Gulf Livestock 1 ship carrying 42 crew members that a survivor said sank during rough weather a day earlier, the coastguard said.
Queensland vet Lukas Orda, who is married with a 6-month-old son, has been named by local media as one of the Australians on board.
Orda studied at James Cook University in Queensland and worked at the Gold Coast Equine Clinic before joining the cattle export ship as a veterinary officer in June.
"It is a very close-knit community the livestock industry both here [Australia] and in New Zealand, so everyone is very concerned about the situation and we're just hoping for the best," he said.
A Filipino crew member of a Panamanian cargo ship is rescued by Japanese coastguard members. Photo / AP
The Filipino crew member was rescued late on Wednesday after Japanese Navy P-3C surveillance aircraft spotted him wearing a life vest and waving while bobbing in the water.
The man, who is in good health, told rescuers the ship capsized before sinking, said coastguard regional spokesman Yuichiro Higashi.
The 11,947-tonne Gulf Livestock 1 ship was carrying 5800 cows west of Amami Oshima in the East China Sea when it sent a distress call early on Wednesday. The cause of the distress was not immediately known, but the weather was rough in the area due to Typhoon Maysak.
The typhoon has since passed the area and the weather during the search is fine, Higashi said.
A ship carrying two New Zealand crew members and more than 5800 cows has gone missing in a typhoon. Photo / Vessel Finder
The ship's other crew members include 38 from the Philippines, two from New Zealand and two from Australia.
The ship left the port of Napier in New Zealand in mid-August and was on its way to Tangshan on China's eastern coast.
Its automatic identification system tracker gave its last position nearly two days ago, according to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com. Based on that position, it was sailing in high winds of 58 knots (107km/h), MarineTraffic.com said.
The ship's operator, Gulf Navigation Holdings PJSC, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, declined to comment. The company, traded on the Dubai Financial Market, says it owns and operates chemical tankers, livestock vessels and other ships.
