Typhoon Haishen hampers seek out ship survivors near Japan
05 September, 2020
Japanese authorities on Saturday (Sep 5) resumed looking for dozens of missing sailors from a cargo ship that sank in a typhoon, but high waves due to an approaching storm prevented boats from joining the operation.
The Japan coastguard found your body of another crew member on Friday after the Gulf Livestock 1, which was carrying 6,000 cows and had 43 crew members up to speed, issued a distress call Wednesday near Amami Oshima island as Typhoon Maysak passed through the region.
Typhoon Haishen, a much better storm, is expected to affect Japan from late Saturday, with winds of up to 290 kph, so that it is a "violent" storm - the very best level on the country's classification scale.
"We resumed our search procedure today by dispatching an airplane," a local coastguard official said.
"But because of high waves, we're able to not send any patrol boats to the website."
"We still intend to send ships to join the search procedure but it's not certain as another typhoon is approaching the spot," he said, adding that there have been no clues to the fate of the missing crew.
A first survivor was entirely on Wednesday evening, with the body of another crew member recovered at sea Friday.
The crew was made up of 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders and two Australians.
The boat, which had experienced engine problems before, was travelling from Napier in New Zealand to the Chinese port of Tangshan.
Haishen was barrelling towards Okinawa in southern Japan Saturday morning and on course for western Kyushu, prompting the federal government to warn residents to get ready.
Authorities on Minamidaitojima island instructed about 1,300 residents to evacuate as the storm was expected to hit the remote island, east of Okinawa.
"We urge our islanders to be on full alert as winds are receiving stronger and likely to be violent," said Hidehito Iha, a local government official.
Footage showed troops escorting dozens of individuals at a heliport in Kagoshima, southern Kyushu, once they evacuated from another remote island by a military helicopter.
Public broadcaster NHK said major companies, including Toyota and Canon, made a decision to temporarily close their plants in Kyushu on Monday following a government warning.
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