BY ROY C. MABASA
The Department of Foreign Affairs is verifying with the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and its other foreign posts the report that a Panamanian-registered freighter with 43 crewmembers, including 39 Filipinos, went missing off the waters of Amami Oshima Island in southwestern Japan.
“We’re checking with our posts in Japan,” the DFA said in a message sent to reporters.
According to reports, MV Gulf Livestock 1 was reportedly ferrying cattle from Napier, New Zealand to Tangshan, China when it issued a distress signal at around 1:20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. in the Philippines) on Wednesday some 115 miles west of Oshima Island.
Japanese Coast Guard operatives are conducting search and rescue operations most specifically in the area where typhoon “Maysak” (“Julian” in the Philippines) packed with 130 mph winds, was last reported.
The Gulf Livestock 1 was the same ship assisted by the Philippine Navy 1 recently when it lost propulsion off Balut Island in southern Philippines.
