One person rescued after cargo ship with 43 people sank off Japan due to typhoon

A cargo ship, which carried 43 crew members and nearly 6,000 cows, sank after encountering a typhoon in the East China Sea, one of the rescued survivors said on Thursday.

The Gulf Livestock 1 made a distress call early on Wednesday from a position 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of Japan's Amami Oshima island when Typhoon Maysak was approaching towards them, causing strong winds and heavy showers.

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On Wednesday night (Tokyo time), coastguards located one survivor Sareno Edvarodo, who jumped off the ship wearing a life jacked after the ship issued an alert.

The 45-year-old survivor from the Philippines said one the cargo ship's engines stalled and later the waves capsized the ship, a coastguard said in a statement.

He also said he did not see any other crew members alive seeking rescue help.

Presently, three coast guard vessels, five aeroplanes and two divers had been deployed to conduct the search-and-rescue operation, the Japanese coastguard said.

Rhe ship which departed from New Zealand and heading towards China, carried 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders and two Australians, along with 5,800 cows.

The Philippines government said it was working with the coastguard to find the missing crew members ahead of another typhoon that is likely to hit the region.

(With AFP, Reuters inputs)