Dozens missing after cargo ship sinks off Lebanon

Dozens of people were missing on Thursday after a ship carrying livestock sank in the Mediterranean off Lebanon in stormy weather, Lebanese naval sources said.                                           

They said three UN peacekeeping vessels -- one Italian and two German --, Lebanese army rescue boats and Cyprus-based British forces were in the area trying to save the crew of Panamanian-flagged Danny II which capsized in early evening 17 km (11 miles) off the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.                                           

At least 19 people were rescued and the search was on for the remaining 64 who were believed to be on board. The ship was transporting 43,000 sheep from Uruguay to Tartous in Syria. The crew were mostly from the Philippines and Pakistan.                                            

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 2000 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 capsized in international waters some 80 km (50 miles) off the Lebanese shore and seven of its crew went missing.