Rescue operation for ship survivors suspended as Typhoon Haishen nears Japan; alerts issued

Japanese authorities have temporarily suspended the search for missing sailors of the ship that sank off the coast of Japan in a typhoon.

The Japan coastguard found two survivors on Friday, and the search was resumed on Saturday morning too. However, it had to be suspended when the search team came back without any survivor or clues.

"We resumed our search operation this morning by dispatching an airplane, but it returned without any clues," a local coastguard official said.

On Wednesday, Gulf Livestock 1, a ship populated by 43 crew members and transporting livestock, sank after issuing a distress signal. The incident happened near Amami Oshima island as Typhoon Maysak passed through the area.

Since then, the Japanese coastguard have been trying to find survivors, but have not been very successful.

However, now the coastguard are having to suspend the search as the typhoon Haishen is expected to hit Japan soon with winds of up to 290 kilometres per hour (180 miles per hour). The storm has been classified as a "violent storm".

The search operation will resume as soon as the storm lightens enough to make it safe for the coastguard to get back in the sea, which is expected to be on Monday. The rescue team will be searching for the rest of the crew which includes The crew was made up of 37 Filipinos, two New Zealanders and two Australians and the livestock.

Till then, the officials have urged everyone to stay home, and all the islanders have be put on full alert. Companies such as Toyoya and Mitsubishi have also suspended all operations for the timebeing.

"We urge all of our islanders to be on full alert as winds are getting stronger and expected to be violent," said Hidehito Iha, a local government official.