The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said the body recovered by Japan’s Coast Guard in the East China Sea last week has been identified as that of a Filipino.
“The deceased was confirmed to be of Filipino nationality. The family of the deceased has cooperated in identifying the remains,” the DFA said in a statement.
The Coast Guard had been conducting a search for the cargo ship Gulf Livestock 1, which sank off Japan’s southwestern waters last week, before suspending the search momentarily due to bad weather conditions.
En route to Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, the ship was carrying 43 crewmen, including 39 Filipinos.
The ship was able to make a distress call on Sept. 2 off Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture as Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas.
The Japanese Coast Guard was supposed to resume its full sea and aerial search on Tuesday.
So far, two crewmen—both Filipinos—have been rescued, while a body was recovered on Sept. 4.