TOKYO (AP) — Japanese rescuers were searching Thursday for a livestock ship with 42 crew members on board that sent a distress signal during rough weather off southern Japan.

The Coast Guard safely rescued a Filipino crew member from the waters late Wednesday after Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft spotted the man wearing a life vest and waving while bobbing up and down in the water. The crew member is able to walk and in good health, Coast Guard officials said.

The 11,947-ton Gulf Livestock 1 ship was carrying 5,800 cows west of the western coast of Amami Oshima in the East China Sea when it sent the distress call in the early hours of Wednesday.

The cause of the distress was not immediately known, but the weather was rough in the area due to Typhoon Maysak.

The other crew include 38 from the Philippines, two from New Zealand and another two from Australia.

The Panamanian ship left the port of Nepier in northeastern New Zealand on Tuesday and was on its way to the port of Tangshan on China's eastern coast, Coast Guard officials said.