Bhubaneswar: Two crew members were rescued after Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Ocean-Winner sank in the Bay of Bengal around 240 nautical miles off the Odisha coast on Saturday, triggering a major search-and-rescue operation.
The survivors were recovered from two separate liferafts around 8 p.m. by merchant tanker MT AISOPOS, which was diverted to the spot.
The vessel had departed Paradip Port at around 10:30 p.m. on August 20, carrying about 1,700 tonnes of iron ore and bound for Singapore. It had 24 crew members onboard — 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram received an alert at 11:48 a.m. on August 22 that contact with the vessel had been lost. The request for search and rescue assistance came from Victory Star Group Co. Ltd, the operator of the ship. The last known position was reported near 317 East Island Light, approximately 310 nautical miles away.
Following the alert, MRCC activated the Indian Search and Rescue (ISN) network and diverted MT AISOPOS to search for the vessel and liferafts.
The Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy have launched a coordinated joint operation. Coast Guard ships ICGS Varad and ICGS Anmol were immediately deployed, while ICGS Vijit sailed from Sri Vijaya Puram to reinforce the operation. Other ships in the vicinity have also been alerted to assist in locating the remaining crew.
The status of 22 crew members is yet to be ascertained and efforts are on to locate them. The exact cause of the sinking is under investigation.
