A Panama-flagged cargo ship with 24 crew members, mostly Chinese, on board sank in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, about 240 nautical miles from the Paradip coast of Odisha, officials said. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has deployed three of its ships for a search-and-rescue operation.
Last port call at Paradip, headed to Singapore
Twenty of the crew members on the ship, MV Ocean Winner, were Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi, officials told PTI.
The ship was heading to Singapore carrying 72,100 mt of iron ore fines from Odisha. It had left the Paradip coast at 10.42 pm on August 20, they added.
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“The Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy have launched a rescue operation. So far, two persons have been rescued from the waters,” a senior IPS officer told PTI.
Another nearby ship has also come to the rescue of MV Ocean Winner, he said.
ICG responded to distress call
ICG’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram received an information from a company associated with the vessel “at 1148 hrs regarding loss of communication with MV Ocean Winner (IMO 9145530), with 24 crew onboard, and a request for search and rescue assistance”, the ICG spokesperson said.
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The MRCC diverted MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel which was in the vicinity, to “search for the vessel or liferafts and render assistance, and the vessel recovered two survivors from two liferafts at about 2000 hrs”, the ICG spokesperson added.
ICG ships “Varad” and “Anmol” have been deployed for the search-and-rescue efforts, while “Vijit” has also been deployed from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the operation, the official added.
