New Delhi: A Panama-flagged bulk carrier with 24 crew members on board — 20 Chinese, three Myanmar and one Bangladeshi national — has sunk in the Bay of Bengal, roughly 240 nautical miles off the Paradip coast of Odisha, triggering a multi-agency search-and-rescue operation by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Indian Navy. Two crew members have been rescued so far.
The vessel, identified as MV Ocean Winner (IMO 9145530), was a 225-metre-long, 32.26-metre-wide bulk carrier that had left Paradip Port at 10:42 pm on August 20, carrying 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines bound for Singapore, where it was due to arrive on August 27.
How the alert came in
According to the ICG, its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram received word at 11:48 am from a company associated with the vessel, reporting loss of communication with the ship and requesting search-and-rescue assistance. The ship reportedly went off the tracking grid after departing Paradip before later sinking in the Bay of Bengal.
By around 8 pm, a merchant vessel in the vicinity had recovered two survivors from life rafts in the water. Efforts are continuing to trace the remaining 22 crew members; their identities have not yet been made public.
Rescue effort under way
The Coast Guard has deployed three ships — ICGS Varad, ICGS Anmol and ICGS Vijit — for the search-and-rescue mission, with Vijit sailing in from Sri Vijaya Puram to reinforce the operation. The Indian Navy has also joined the search, and other merchant vessels in the area have been alerted to assist.
“We are not sure how many of the crew members have been rescued,” a senior police officer told PTI, adding that most of those on board were Chinese nationals.
Wider context
The incident adds to a string of recent maritime distress calls in Indian waters this year, underscoring the volume of shipping traffic — and the diversity of crew nationalities — passing along India’s east coast en route to major hubs like Singapore. Search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing, with the Coast Guard and Navy continuing efforts to locate the remaining crew members.