Bhubaneswar: A Panama-flagged cargo ship carrying around 72,100 tonnes of iron ore fines sank around 240 nautical miles off the Odisha coast on Saturday, triggering a major search and rescue operation by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy.
The vessel, MV Ocean Winner, had 24 crew members on board. They included 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh.
The ship was carrying iron ore loaded in Odisha and was bound for Singapore after departing from Paradip Port at around 10.42 pm on August 20, according to reports.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram received information at 11.48 am on Sunday that communication with the vessel had been lost.
Victory Star Group Co Ltd, the company operating the ship, alerted the authorities and sought search and rescue assistance.
Following the alert, the Indian maritime authorities launched a coordinated rescue operation. MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel in the vicinity, was diverted to assist in the search for the missing cargo ship and its crew.
MT Aisopos later rescued two crew members from separate liferafts at around 8 pm on Saturday. The remaining 22 crew members are still unaccounted for, with search efforts continuing in the area.
The Indian Coast Guard has deployed its ships Varad and Anmol for the operation. Another Coast Guard vessel, Vijit, was also sent from Sri Vijaya Puram to strengthen the search and rescue effort.
Other vessels operating in the area have been alerted and asked to assist in locating the missing crew members.
The circumstances surrounding the loss of communication and subsequent sinking of MV Ocean Winner have not yet been established. Rescue agencies are continuing their efforts to locate the remaining crew.
