Japanese authorities find empty lifeboat in search for missing Gulf Livestock 1 crew

Japanese authorities find empty lifeboat in search for missing Gulf Livestock 1 crew
Jake Sturmer and Yumi Asada 7 Sept 2020 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-08/empty-lifeboat-found-in-search-fo...

Japanese authorities searching for 40 missing crew members from a live export ship believed to have sunk off the country's south-west have found an empty lifeboat.

However, the Coast Guard said it found no indication anyone had been on board.

The search for the missing sailors — including two Australians — will resume today.

It is a search that is becoming increasingly more desperate, with almost a week passing since the Gulf Livestock 1 made a distress call during Typhoon Maysak in the East China Sea.

A separate weather system, Typhoon Haishen, forced authorities to suspend their search on Friday.

The Coast Guard resumed the rescue operation by air on Sunday and found the lifeboat on the tiny island of Takarajima, which is home to about 100 people.

Authorities have so far found two Filipino survivors and one dead body, which remains unidentified.

The survivors said an engine cut out and a massive wave hit the ship, forcing it to capsize and sink.
The 139-metre vessel left New Zealand on August 14 and was bound for China, carrying 43 crew members and 5,867 cattle.

On Tuesday, two patrol ships and an aircraft will be sent into the search area.