Crew and sheep lost after ship sinks

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A ship carrying 83 crew and 43,000 sheep has sunk off the Lebanese coast in stormy weather.

A senior Lebanese army officer says the Panama-flagged ship sent a distress call on Thursday afternoon and a Lebanese navy ship was dispatched, but by the time rescuers arrived the ship had sunk 17km off the coast.

At least 19 crew members were rescued from the ship, which was transporting 43,000 sheep from Uruguay to Tartous in Syria.

Three UN peacekeeping vessels - one Italian and two German - Lebanese army rescue boats and Cyprus-based British forces were assisting with rescue efforts for the remaining 64 crew believed to be on board.

High waves and wind were hampering the night search, the sources said.

Rescue workers said people could not survive more than a maximum of 10 hours in the waters in current weather conditions.

"We were asked by the Larnaca Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (in Cyprus) to assist in a rescue effort in the reigon. We have scrambled one of our air assets to the area," said Stuart Bardsley, a spokesman for the British bases in Cyprus.
  
He said the helicopter was scrambled at 8pm GMT but did not have further details on the incident. "We know the weather was pretty bad," he said.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has a naval task force that monitors Lebanese waters to prevent weapons from reaching the country's Hezbollah guerrilla force, which fought a war with Israel in 2006.

Last week an Israel-bound Turkish cargo ship capsised in international waters some 80km off the Lebanese shore and seven of its crew went missing.

- AP