LONDON (Reuters) - The body of one crew member has been found aboard an Iranian oil tanker that is still ablaze after colliding with a grain ship off China’s east coast, an Iranian official said on Monday.

Mohammad Rastad, head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation, was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency that the body was sent to Shanghai for identification.

Rescue crews are trying to bring the blaze under control and find the 32 missing crew. </s> The commander of the US Pacific Fleet said on Tuesday that a number of remains of Navy sailors were found in a compartment of the USS John McCain, a day after the warship's collision with an oil tanker in Southeast Asian waters left 10 sailors missing. </s> Poor conditions, with heavy winds, rain and high waves, continue to hamper efforts to tame the fire and search for the 31 remaining crew members on the tanker, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

The body of a crew member was found on Monday in the water near the tanker, the ministry said. It had been handed over to the civil affairs bureau.

Concerns were growing that the tanker may explode and sink while a flotilla of 13 search and rescue vessels comb a 900-square-nautical-mile area around the ship for the crew. The tanker hit a freight ship on Saturday night in the East China Sea and burst into flames after spilling oil. </s> Uruguay is looking for 22 missing crew members of a South Korean ship after finding two survivors, authorities said Sunday.

Two Filipino survivors in good health were found Saturday floating in a life boat by a commercial boat participating in the search. Uruguayan Navy spokesman Gaston Jaunsolo told The Associated Press that the survivors said the Stella Daisy split in two and sank.

A Brazilian Navy plane joined the rescue team at around 2,485 miles (4,000 km) off Uruguay’s coast. Argentina’s Navy has also been helping.

The South Korean foreign ministry says the vessel’s shipping company lost contact with the Stella Daisy on Friday shortly after a crew member sent a text message saying it was taking on water.

It says there were 24 crew members aboard — eight South Koreans and 16 Filipinos. The ship was registered in the Marshall Islands.

The ship went out of contact late Friday, South Korea time, shortly after one of the crew members sent a text message to the shipping company saying the ship was taking on water, according to an official from Seoul’s foreign ministry.

The official said the Uruguayan maritime police and a commercial vessel that had been in neighboring waters were searching for the Stella Daisy, which had departed from a port in Brazil on March 26. </s> The search for seven missing U.S. Navy sailors was called off Sunday after several bodies were recovered from the flooded compartments of the destroyer.

Commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet told the grim news to reporters at a Navy base in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo. Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin wouldn’t say how many bodies were found but said the identities of the sailors would be released following notification of the families.

The bodies were found in previously flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters.

Searchers gained access to these spaces that were damaged during the collision and brought the remains to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they are to be identified, the Navy said in a statement.

The USS Fitzgerald was back at its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday. The Philippine-flagged container ship was berthed at Tokyo’s Oi wharf, where officials were questioning crew members about the cause of the nighttime crash.

After stabilizing the USS Fitzgerald, the destroyer USS Dewey had joined other American and Japanese vessels and aircraft in the search for the missing sailors.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crash damaged two berthing spaces, a machinery room and the radio room. Most of the more than 200 sailors aboard would have been asleep in their berths at the time of the pre-dawn crash.

Water was being pumped out of flooded areas and it was unclear how long it would take to get into the crushed mid-right side of the ship once it was at the pier in Yokosuka, the statement said.

Nippon Yusen, the Japanese shipping company that operates the container ship, said in a statement it is collaborating with the ship owner and fully cooperating with the investigation by the coast guard. The 29,060-ton ship is Philippine-flagged and all the crew are Filipinos.

The USS Fitzgerald’s captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was airlifted early Saturday to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition with a head injury, the Navy said. Two other crew members suffered cuts and bruises and were evacuated. It was unclear how many others may have been hurt.

The Navy said that the collision occurred 56 nautical miles (103 kilometers) southwest of Yokosuka, home to the 7th Fleet.

“Right now we are focused on two things: the safety of the ship and the well-being of the sailors,” said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Conditions were clear at the time of the collision, though Yutaka Saito of the coast guard said the area is particularly busy with sea traffic.

The names of the sailors were being withheld pending notification of their families. U.S. Navy personnel set up support and counseling services to help families as they sought updates on crew members.

“Just heard the sweetest voice and saw a wonderful face. He’s okay. Thank you all for the prayers,” Rita Schrimsher of Athens, Alabama, tweeted after speaking with her 23-year-old grandson, Jackson Schrimsher, via Facetime.

“It could have been worse, so we’re grateful,” she said by phone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report </s> SHANGHAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A Chinese salvage team recovered two bodies on Saturday from a stricken Iranian oil tanker, that was still blazing a week after it caught fire and was left adrift following a collision in the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The four members of the salvage team wore respirators to board the "Sanchi", where they found the two bodies on the deck.

They tried to get to the living quarters but were driven back by temperatures on the burning ship of around 89 Celsius (192 Fahrenheit), Xinhua said.

The body of a mariner suspected to be from the ship was recovered on Monday and sent to Shanghai for identification. The rest of the crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remains missing.

The salvage team recovered the voyage data recorder, or "black box" from the bridge, before leaving the vessel less than half an hour after boarding because the wind had shifted and "thick toxic smoke" had complicated the operation, Xinhua said. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and John Ruwitch; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) </s> YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. Navy says the bodies of sailors who went missing in the collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship have been found aboard the stricken destroyer.

The Navy says in a statement that searchers had gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision. A total of seven sailors had been missing since Saturday’s crash off Japan’s coast.

The Navy says the remains are being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified.

It says the families are being notified and being provided the support they need during “this difficult time.” The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made. </s> YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) - The U.S. Navy says the bodies of sailors who went missing in the collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship have been found aboard the stricken destroyer.

 

The Navy says in a statement that searchers had gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision. A total of seven sailors had been missing since Saturday's crash off Japan's coast.

 

The Navy says the remains are being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified.

 

It says the families are being notified and being provided the support they need during "this difficult time." The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made. </s> Large South Korean cargo ship with 24 crew on board goes missing in South Atlantic Ocean after making a distress call.

A large cargo ship with 24 crew on board is believed to have sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Uruguayan navy.

The Stella Daisy, which was being used by a South Korean company, had issued an emergency call on Friday shortly before noon local time (14:00 GMT), saying it was taking on water, the navy said on Saturday.

Merchant ships in the area spotted a life raft and were working to rescue two sailors, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, quoting government officials in Seoul.

The sailors' nationality was not known. The crew comprised 16 Filipinos and eight Koreans.

Because the freighter was far off the Uruguayan coast, the navy organised a search by four merchant ships in the area, spokesman Gaston Jaunsolo told the AFP news agency in the capital, Montevideo.

He said the first ships to reach the scene had detected a "strong smell of fuel" and spotted debris, "an indication that the damaged ship had sunk", a statement from the navy said.

The ship, a Very Large Ore Carrier with a capacity of more than 260,000 tonnes, was registered in the Marshall Islands.

It had departed from a port in Brazil and its planned destination was not immediately clear.
The body of a crew member is found on the ship.