Two Crew Rescued After Cargo Ship Sinks off Odisha Coast, Search Underway for 22

Two crew members of the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Ocean-Winner have been rescued after the ship sank in the Bay of Bengal, while Indian Navy and Coast Guard teams continue an extensive search for the remaining 22 crew members.

The vessel sank around 240 nautical miles off the Odisha coast on Saturday, triggering a major search-and-rescue operation involving Indian maritime agencies and nearby commercial vessels.

MV Ocean-Winner had departed Paradip Port at around 10.30 p.m. on August 20, carrying approximately 1,700 tonnes of iron ore and was headed for Singapore. There were 24 crew members aboard the vessel, including 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national.

The Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command said a distress alert relating to the vessel was received on August 22. An Indian Navy P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft was diverted from its surveillance mission to assist in the search operation in coordination with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Sri Vijaya Puram.

The aircraft located a liferaft in the search area and coordinated with the merchant vessel MT AISOPOS, which was passing nearby. The tanker was asked to assist in the rescue operation.

By around 8 p.m. on August 22, MT AISOPOS had located and rescued two survivors from two separate liferafts.

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The MRCC at Sri Vijaya Puram had received an alert at 11.48 a.m. that day after contact with MV Ocean-Winner was lost. The alert was raised by Victory Star Group Co. Ltd, the company operating the vessel.

Following the alert, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre activated the Indian Search and Rescue network and diverted MT AISOPOS towards the last known location of the vessel. The ship's last reported position was near 317 East Island Light, around 310 nautical miles from the coast.

The Indian Coast Guard and Navy subsequently launched a coordinated search operation. Coast Guard vessels ICGS Varad and ICGS Anmol were deployed, while ICGS Vijit sailed from Sri Vijaya Puram to strengthen the rescue effort.

Other ships operating in the area were also alerted and asked to assist in locating additional survivors and liferafts.

The Indian Navy said it remains in close coordination with the Coast Guard as the search continues for the missing crew members. The condition of the two rescued crew members and the exact circumstances that led to the sinking were not immediately available.

The incident highlights the challenges involved in maritime rescue operations far from the coastline, where survivors may become dispersed across a large area after abandoning a vessel. The deployment of long-range surveillance aircraft, naval and Coast Guard ships, along with assistance from commercial vessels, is helping authorities cover the search area more effectively.

The cause of the MV Ocean-Winner's sinking remains under investigation, while efforts are continuing to locate the remaining crew members.