MANILA - Japanese authorities have halted their full-time search operations for missing crew of a cargo ship that sank in a typhoon in the East China Sea last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

The Japanese Coast Guard has returned to its "usual patrol arrangements as they have found no trace of the ship" since Sep. 5, Saturday, the DFA said in a statement.

"The DFA joins the families and loved ones in continued prayers for the missing seafarers," it said.

The Japanese Coast Guard earlier found the remains of a Filipino seafarer, while two Filipino survivors have been in contact with their families in the Philippines, the agency earlier said.

Over 30 Filipino crew members remain missing.

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The sunken ship's crew was made up of 39 Filipinos, 2 New Zealanders and 2 Australians. The boat was traveling from Napier in New Zealand to the Chinese port of Tangshan.

It issued a distress call on the early morning of Sep. 2 as Typhoon Maysak passed through the area, setting off a desperate search for the 43 crew on board.

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse