TOKYO, Sept 2 — Japan’s coastguard said today it was searching for a cargo ship with 43 people on board after receiving a distress call from the East China Sea during a typhoon.

An alarm signal was received in the early hours from a vessel around 185 kilometres west of Japan’s Amami Oshima island, the coastguard said.

It said it believed the call for help had been sent by a ship called Gulf Livestock 1, on its way to the Chinese port of Tangshan from Napier in New Zealand.

Four coastguard vessels and several planes were involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

The coastguard said it had not detected any additional signals.

The distress call came as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the area overnight with the passage of Typhoon Maysak.

The crew reportedly include 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders, an Australian and a Singaporean. — AFP