By BETHEENA UNITE, ROY MABASA***
The two Filipino survivors from the sunken Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel have been in contact with their respective families, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday.
This developed as the search and rescue mission on the remaining missing crew members of the ill-fated vessel was temporarily suspended Saturday as Typhoon 10 is expected to hit Japan.
The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka confirmed that the search and rescue operations were halted.
The DFA also said that the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) continue to monitor and coordinate the situation with the Japanese Coast Guard, shipowner and the manning agency to extend all appropriate support for the Filipino seafarers and their families.
The Panamanian-registered freighter cargo ship, MV Gulf Livestock 1, was carrying 43 crew, including 39 Filipinos and 5, 800 cows, when it sank off the waters of Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
It was reportedly ferrying cattle from Napier, New Zealand to Tangshan, China when it issued a distress call at around 1:20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. in the Philippines) on Wednesday, September 2. Since then, two Filipinos have been found.
The first survivor is 45-year-old Filipino chief officer Eduardo Sareno, 45, who was able to survive after diving into the sea after wearing a life jacket.
He was rescued by the Japanese Coast Guard hours after the freighter transmitted a distress signal early Wednesday when it was 115 miles west of Amami Oshima Island.
A video released by the Japanese Coast Guard showed the dramatic rescue of Sareno while floating in darkness and being led to a boat with a rope.
The DFA said Sareno is currently recovering in the hospital and is reported to be in “good health.”
The second Filipino survivor was found alone floating in a life raft.
“He is conscious and able to walk,” the DFA said. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Saturday identified him as Jay-Nel Rosales, 30, from Cebu.
Rosales, a deck crew, was rescued by patrol boat Kaimon and is stable and able to walk on his own, according to a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Osaka.
Rosales, who was taken to the Kagoshima-ken Kenritsu Ooshima Hospital for a complete medical check-up, was already able to talk with his family in Cebu, Bello said.
Another body, believed to be that of another Filipino crew, was fished out of the waters. The identity of the body has yet to be ascertained, the same POLO report said.
“We are updating the relatives of our unfortunate Filipino crewmen every time we receive information from the Japanese Coast Guard who is on top of the search and rescue operation,” Bello said.
He said the POLO in Japan is on hand to provide the all needs of the rescued seafarers, including their personal requirements.
