Dozens still missing as ship sinks off Lebanon
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Dozens still missing as ship sinks off Lebanon*
Rescue teams tended to survivors after the ship sank
BBC - Rescuers are still looking for 35 people missing after a ship
carrying a cargo of livestock sank off the north Lebanese coast in a storm.
Navy ships responding to a distress signal pulled 38 people from the
sea, the Lebanese military said.
The first survivors have now arrived on land, and at least nine bodies
have been recovered, a spokesman said.
High seas, strong winds and the floating carcasses of thousands of
animals are hampering rescue efforts.
The Panamanian-flagged Danny F II capsized 11 nautical miles (17km) off
Tripoli after sending a distress signal.
The vessel was sailing from Uruguay to the Syrian port of Tartous.
One of the survivors, a Filipino named Jonathan, told the AFP news
agency he was unable to find a life jacket when he jumped into the water.
"The waves were very high and I panicked. The water was freezing and I
felt pain in my chest.
"I thought I was going to die," he said.
One of those saved was from the Philippines and another from Pakistan, a
Lebanese rescue official said.
He told AFP that the survivors were "very scared and cold" when they
were pulled out of the water.
"If the sea remains calm we hope to find more survivors, but if the
storm kicks up again then they have little chance of surviving for more
than an hour in the water," he said.
All the livestock were presumed lost, he added.
A Lebanese military spokesman said the crew had had time to don life
jackets before the boat capsized.
International search
The ship's operator, Agencia Schandy, told AFP in Montevideo that those
on board the Danny F II included six passengers - four Uruguayans, one
Brazilian and an Australian.
The ship had left Montevideo on 23 November with 10,224 sheep and 17,932
cattle, the company said.
The ship's crew are mostly from the Philippines and Pakistan but there
were at least one Lebanese and one Syrian on board, a port official in
Tripoli said.
The captain of the vessel is reportedly British.
Ships from the Lebanese navy and the UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon
(Unifil) are conducting the search, along with a Lebanese civilian vessel.
"Three maritime task force ships - one Italian and two German - were
dispatched about 10 nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli after the
Lebanese navy received a distress call from a Panamanian-flagged ship,"
Unifil spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP news agency.
A British military base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was also taking part
in the rescue.
"We have scrambled one helicopter from 84 Squadron but because of the
distance from (Akrotiri) base it will be operating out of Larnaca,"
British Forces spokesman Stuart Bardsley said.
"The helicopter is not equipped to winch at night but we provide a
searchlight facility to lead the boats where there are life rafts."
The cargo ship issued a distress call on Thursday afternoon, but had
sunk before a Lebanese navy ship reached the area, a Lebanese army
officer said.