TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's coast guard said on Wednesday (Sept 2) one person was found during a search for a cargo ship with 43 people on board after receiving a distress call from the East China Sea during a typhoon.

An alarm signal was received in the early hours from a vessel around 185 kilometres west of Japan's Amami Oshima island, the coast guard said.

It said it believed the call for help had been sent by a ship called Gulf Livestock 1, on its way to the Chinese port of Tangshan from Napier in New Zealand.

"We were informed by the Defence Ministry that a person wearing a life jacket was found" in the sea where the ship went missing, a coast guard official told AFP.

The person, whose identity and condition is unclear, was found by a patrol plane sent by the Defence Ministry.

A rubber boat was also spotted from the plane, but the coast guard official said they have not confirmed if it belonged to the ship.

Four coast guard vessels and several planes were involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

One of the vessels arrived in the area more than 10 hours from the distress call and three were still heading there in stormy conditions.

The coast guard said it had not detected any additional signals.

The distress call came as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the area overnight with the passage of Typhoon Maysak.

The crew reportedly includes 39 Filipinos, two New Zealanders, an Australian and a Singaporean.

However, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said checks showed that there was no Singaporean on board the vessel.

Local media also said the ship was carrying 5,800 cows