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UAE-based Gulf Navigation Holding said on Tuesday it may have no liability towards the cargo lost at sea off the coast of Japan last week.
In a statement to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the shipping firm clarified that the vessel and the crew, about 40 of them feared lost, are insured and that all the Filipino seafarers operate under the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) contracts, which provide for “set levels of compensation.”
“The vessel and crew are insured by a member of the International Group of P+I Clubs (protection and indemnity) and a reputable hull and machinery insurers,” the company said in a bourse filing.
“It is believed that Gulf Navigation has no liability towards the loss of the cargo,” it added.
The livestock carrier, reportedly carrying nearly 6,000 cattle and 43 crew, capsized in the typhoon-battered seas off Japan on September 2.
Most of the seafarers on board are overseas workers from the Philippines, two of them have been rescued by the Japanese Coast Guard. A body of another crew member was later found in a life raft.
The remaining 40 crew members, comprising 36 Filipinos, two New Zealand nationals and two Australians, are feared lost, according to Gulf Navigation.
Investigations into the cause of the incident are still ongoing, the firm said, although it is noted that the area encountered unusual winds gusting up to 160 kilometres per hour when Typhoon Maysak hit.
The tragedy occurred when the boat was cruising from Napier in New Zealand to the Chinese port of Tangshan.
Gulf Navigation owns and operates a fleet of vessels, including chemical tankers, livestock transport carriers and offshore support vessels.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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