Freighter with 43 crew, 5,800 cattle capsizes off southwestern Japan

Wow what a lucky guy!

And this article isn’t very informative.

Sounds to me like the entire vehicle has sunk.

Why didn't the captain pull into sheltered waters? It seems idiotic to think that anyone figures they could ride out a typhoon, and particularly with live cattle aboard.

I sincerely hope they find the rest of the crew!

With up to date and advanced weather systems then the knowledge of the typhoon was certainly available.

It begs the question why the captain sailed into stormy waters...

Hopefully they find the crew and the cattle safe and well.

Hopefully not another fuel spill. The sea around there is very beautiful.

@divinda

Couple things.

The livestock was going to China.

They are dairy cows. Can't milk a dead cow.

@divinda

Ever moved a dead cow? They're kinda unwieldy and must be refrigerated.

Even in the American old west, cows were kept alive on trains until they reached the abattoir.

The livestock was going to China.

They are dairy cows.

Sorry, I didn't notice they were headed to China. And agreed, you can't milk a dead cow (though how do you know they are dairy cows?)

But it doesn't make my comment false per se, just not applicable to this situation.

Even in the American old west, cows were kept alive on trains until they reached the abattoir.

Yeah, they do tend to keep them alive until they reach they place they kill them. Duh. And in the "American old west" they didn't have this thing called refrigeration.

Looks like it was on its way to China from NZ and passing through Japanese waters enroute.

It beggars belief that a Captain of a tall vessel this size, with open sides, with all the modern navigation and meteorological aids available to him would sail directly into a well forecast Typhoon.

https://twitter.com/MarineTraffic/status/1301100205916422144/photo/1

@Yubaru

This seems to be a very large freighter.

Having worked on these ships all be a very long time ago, there are very few sheltered harbours for such ships.

Small fishing boats can do such things not major big ships.

Staying moored at Port, risks major damage to both the ship and port.

That is why in many cases these larger ships actually head out to sea when such storm approach.

I have never been in the Navy but know many who have and it is standard to take the fleet out of port during typhoons and hurricanes.

5,800 terrified souls. It's bad enough the awful life that is forced upon them, and their slaughter is just as horrific, but this... If they drowned in closed quarters, unable to even try to escape like the humans can, it's monstrous.

But hey, extreme suffering makes your meat and milk taste good, right?

All sadly true.

Antiquesaving above is correct about going out to sea for safety, but if for any reason you lose engine power, i.e. the ability to steer your ship at the correct angle in rough conditions, you will be in serious trouble and signalling for help.

Very sad if the remaining 42 crew have all drowned. Sad also if 5,800 cows have drowned too. If you see a picture of such ships that carry live cattle, they seem to have the cattle in cages stacked on decks so they get fresh air. If they all went down, it must have been a terrible sight and sound. And a feeding frenzy for a lot of fish and sharks etc.

What I find alarming is they only had time to put on a life jacket, after the wave hit the boat, the article say nothing about having time to launch the life rafts/boats, which I am sure they would have. Either way its a sad loss for everyone.

And we should praise the Japanese life Gard crew for going out to rescue the crew, and any one else who joined in, I don't think that I would want to go out in that rough sea in that tiny rescue boat, well done you guys.

Live animal transport is torture and should be banned worldwide.

My thoughts to the crew and those poor animals, the sea is really terrifying. I imagine the horror of the lone survivor to notice that he was the only one who got out.

 I imagine the horror of the lone survivor to notice that he was the only one who got out.

That could really screw with someone's mind. The good news is that I heard they found a second survivor.

"These cows should never have been at sea,"

Live animal transport is torture and should be banned worldwide.

Agreed.

Last year, New Zealand launched a review of its live export trade, worth around NZ$54 million ($37 million) in 2019, after thousands of animals being exported from New Zealand and Australia died in transit.

Do not expect this to get anywhere. Chinese and Gulf money speaks loud and clear, and the NZ government wants it.

Really? Think they can get to them in a locked cargo hold?

Maybe not the sharks, but the crabs, shrimp, and other bottom feeders will.

It's mind-boggling to hear that there were people in the world who sail their ship into a Typhoon! What in the world were they thinking?

commanteer, they found a second survivor?

Had a look through the news but couldn't find this information. Fantastic if true. Do you have a source?

Losing an engine keeps you from steering into the waves.

What a horrible thing - 2am in a typhoon.

Sailed through a typhoon in those waters once on a 20,000 ton Navy ship. Three days of no sleep (had to hang on to the rack, or bed for the landlubbers, so I wasn't thrown out), no hot food (can't cook anything when the stoves and grills are listing 20 degrees either side of level, everything slides off), ship oscillating like a huge orbital buffer every time the bow dug into a wave and the prop on the other end came out of the water, hard to walk and climbing ladders to get from one deck to the other was treacherous. The further forward you went the more violent the motions were as the bow see-sawed up and down through fifteen to twenty feet of vertical motion. Think of an elevator on steroids. One minute your knees are buckling as the bow powers upward as the ship climbs to the crest of the wave, and a second later you are left hanging in the air as the bow goes down and the ship descends into the next trough. Go up to the bridge to watch the show and see the bow of your ship disappear into a big green wave, completely submerged. The wave breaks on the superstructure in a big explosion of spray and when enough water has cleared from the bridge portholes so you can see again you see the bow rising and all this white water pouring off the decks. And there in front of your ship is another great big green wave. Three days of that. And we were on a fairly large ship. I can't even imagine what it was like for the crews of the frigates less than one quarter our displacement. The pilots on those ships told us they were walking down passageways with one foot on the deck and the other on the bulkheads the ships were rolling so much.

It's mind-boggling to hear that there were people in the world who sail their ship into a Typhoon! What in the world were they thinking?

When a hurricane threatens the US east coast the US Navy sorties as many ships as can get underway to get them out of port. It is actually safer to be at sea than in port during such a storm. Ships in port do not do very well against the big storm surge of a hurricane or typhoon.

This seems to be a very large freighter.

Having worked on these ships all be a very long time ago, there are very few sheltered harbours for such ships.

Small fishing boats can do such things not major big ships.

Staying moored at Port, risks major damage to both the ship and port.

That is why in many cases these larger ships actually head out to sea when such storm approach.

I have never been in the Navy but know many who have and it is standard to take the fleet out of port during typhoons and hurricanes.

Total rubbish

(Ship captain and ex-Royal Navy)

Why the hell do they need to carry 6000 animals from New Zealand to China just to be killed cheaper. SHAME!

Open Minded. Part of our discussion here has been about how these are dairy (not beef) cattle. I do not know what to believe.

@desert tortoise I was going green just reading your comments, this is why I have a lot of respect for search and rescue teams that go out in these appalling conditions to save other people lives, and putting aside there own, especially those who volunteer.

Total rubbish

(Ship captain and ex-Royal Navy)

As I said sir when a big hurricane threatens Mayport or Norfolk/Newport News the US Navy sorties as many ships as they can get underway and sends them to sea. It is safer than staying in a port faced hurricane force winds combined with a tidal surge. Royal Navy practice may be different but the places like Southampton, Rosythe, Faslane and Devonport do not have to deal with big tropical cyclones.

Rootling about in local New Zealand news sources I found claim and counter claim. One claim from an animal welfare group was that all of these cows on board were pregnant. The counter claim from the body overseeing standards on board was that no cow was pregnant at time of boarding. There were also photos of the ship, a sort of cruise ship, like something out of Mad Max, top-heavy with cages, with a history of claims of possible unseaworthiness.

This tells me too much already, as if I had lifted the lid on something we do not really want to know about.

Have they found any other remains?

To answer my own question, Kagoshima News Web reports that several tens of dead cows, etc., have been spotted floating in the sea, and they have ships in the area today, the 4th, but that the approaching typhoon No. 10 will make further search and rescue efforts impossible. After the 5th a decision will be taken as to whether to resume the search.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kagoshima/20200904/5050011802.html

This tells me too much already, as if I had lifted the lid on something we do not really want to know about.

Because of Covid-19 related travel restrictions ship owners are not able to accomplish normal crew rotations. Crews for these ships are often from nations that other nations have banned travelers from. Even if shippers and ship owners could arrange charter flights the nations they need to fly into and out of are banning such flights. Most contracts are for six months but there are crews who have been out at sea for over a year. There are three ships in Australian ports where the crews have simply refused to go on. They have been out longer than their contracts and want off but the Australian authorities will not let them. This is happening all over the world. The maritime industry is screaming for relief but governments around the world aren't budging on travel restrictions. The crews and their families suffer.

No wonder this tragedy happened due to the corrupt live export inustry. Livestock carriers, most of which are former bulk carriers nearing the end of their seagoing lives, are the most primitive of the world's commodity vessels according to the ITF. Among them, the many so-called flag of convenience ships are registered in tax havens like Panama and Liberia – and Third World countries – to avoid international shipping standards and safety regulations. Under the International Convention of Shipping Standards, accident investigations are the responsibility of the ship's port of registration, absolving the First World countries industry and authorities of obligations in this area. The report found that it is commonplace for third world seamen to be bashed, raped, starved and underpaid. The ITF claims to have documented numerous cases of intimidation, including workers' houses being burnt down, bashings, disappearances and suspected murder. To date the Australian government has failed to investigate a number of incidents, including the death of an Indonesian seaman who was bashed aboard an Italian-owned ship, off Dampier, and abandoned in shark-infested waters.