Live export ship Gulf Livestock 1’s potential sinking a ‘maritime tragedy’ as Aussie vet Lukas Orda identified

The likely sinking of a live export ship near Japan has been declared a “maritime tragedy” as one of the two Australians on board has been identified as a vet with a six-month-old son. Australian Livestock Exporters Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said any reputational damage the battered live export industry might face was “not important” right now. He said there were “more important things at play” than whether the global live export trade would take a public relations hit in the wake of the accident. “I am not particularly worried about that at the moment, let’s just address the situation at hand,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said. “It is a very important industry and we can deal with whatever comes of this.” Townsville vet Lukas Orda was tonight revealed as one of the two Australians onboard, but his whereabouts remain unknown. Mr Orda studied at James Cook University and worked at the Gold Coast Equine Clinic before joining the cattle export ship as a veterinary officer in June. He is married with a six-month-old son. Mr Orda was understood to be on board the Gulf Livestock 1 when it sent a distress call near Amami Oshima island in south-western Japan on Wednesday. Maritime reports suggest the ship’s track had it heading into the path Typhoon Maysak and might have been caught in the centre of the typhoon. It is believed to have fallen victim to the full force of the storm’s fury with strong winds of up to 240 km/h, heavy seas and stormy weather. Mr Harvey-Sutton said the ship was carrying nearly 6000 dairy heifers from Napier, in New Zealand, to China’s Port of Jingtang in Tangshan. The ship was carrying 43 crew, including two Australians — but only 45-year-old Filipino Sareno Edvarodo, the ship’s chief officer, has been rescued so far. Pictures provided by the coastguard show him in a lifejacket being hauled from choppy seas in darkness. Mr Harvey-Sutton said he was in contact with the exporter and was “supporting” the company as much as he could. He declined to speculate about why the vessel sunk, but said it was a an “extremely rare incident”. “This vessel has been caught in the path of a typhoon,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said. “These are very exceptional and seemingly tragic circumstances. “We don’t know what happened... we are focused on the search and rescue efforts. “There is still hope, but as time passes it becomes more concerning.” The carrier departed Napier in New Zealand on August 14 with 5867 cattle and 43 crew members on board, bound for the Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, China. The journey was expected to take about 17 days, New Zealand’s foreign ministry said. The crew included 39 people from the Philippines, two from New Zealand, and two from Australia. Mr Harvey-Sutton said Australia’s live export industry was concerned about the safety of all of the crew. “It is a very close-knit community, the livestock exporting industry,” he said. “They are all expressing extreme concern and are very hopeful there might be a positive outcome from all of this. “The general sentiment of the industry is our thoughts are with the family at this point, it is a very distressing experience for everyone.” Mr Harvey-Sutton said the families of the crew members were being contacted and declined to comment on where the second Australian on board was from. He said ALEC was offering “support to the exporter” and “making sure any public discourse about it is as factual as possible”. The 139 metre Panamanian-flagged vessel was built in 2002 and the registered owner is Amman-based Rahmeh Compania Naviera SA, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The ship manager is Hijazi & Ghosheh Co. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the Australian government was “providing consular assistance to the families of two Australian crew members on board a cargo vessel reported missing in Japanese waters”.