Two crew members rescued after cargo ship sinks off Odisha coast; search for 22 on

Two of the 24 crew members aboard the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Ocean Winner have been rescued after the ship sank in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard continuing a major search-and-rescue operation for the remaining 22 crew members.

The vessel sank on Saturday, 22 August, around 240 nautical miles off Odisha’s Paradip coast. It was carrying iron ore from Odisha and was bound for Singapore. The 24-member crew comprised 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh. 

The vessel had departed Paradip Port on 20 August. Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Sri Vijaya Puram received information at around 11.48 am on 22 August that communication with the vessel had been lost, along with a request for search-and-rescue assistance from Victory Star Group Co Ltd, the company associated with the ship.

Following the alert, the MRCC activated the Indian Search and Rescue network and diverted the nearby merchant vessel MT AISOPOS to search for the missing cargo ship and its liferafts.

The vessel located liferafts in the search area and, at around 8 pm on Saturday, rescued two crew members from two separate liferafts. The survivors were subsequently taken aboard the tanker, while the search for the remaining crew continued. 

The Indian Navy said one of its P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft was rapidly redeployed for the search after the distress alert. The aircraft located a liferaft and coordinated with MT AISOPOS to assist those aboard. 

The Indian Coast Guard and Navy have launched a coordinated operation to locate the 22 missing crew members. Coast Guard vessels ICGS Varad and ICGS Anmol were deployed for the search, while ICGS Vijit sailed from Sri Vijaya Puram to reinforce the operation. Other vessels operating in the vicinity have also been alerted and asked to assist in the search. 

The vessel’s last reported position was around 310 nautical miles from East Island Light in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to officials.

The exact circumstances that led to the loss of communication and subsequent sinking remain unclear. Authorities have not yet established the cause of the accident, and the priority remains locating the missing crew members.

The incident has triggered a large-scale maritime rescue effort involving Indian naval and Coast Guard assets as well as commercial vessels in the region. Officials continue to coordinate the operation as the search for the 22 missing sailors enters a critical phase.

With IANS inputs