Coast Guard intensifies search after ship sinks off Odisha

The Indian Coast Guard and Eastern Naval Command intensified search operations after Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner sank in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha. The vessel had 24 crew members aboard, with two rescued and searches continuing for others

Bhubaneswar: The Indian Coast Guard and the Eastern Naval Command have intensified search and rescue operations after a Panama-flagged bulk carrier, carrying 24 crew members, sank in the Bay of Bengal, around 230 nautical miles from the Paradip coast of Odisha, officials said on Sunday.

The MV Ocean Winner, carrying “20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi” on board, sank on Saturday, they said.

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Two crew members were rescued on Saturday.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) diverted MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel that 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”, an ICG spokesperson had said.

The ICG has deployed three ships to conduct surface searches for the remaining crew members, it said in a post on X on Sunday.

The Eastern Naval Command, in an X post, said aircraft P8I “on surveillance sortie was rapidly re-deployed for Search & Rescue mission in coordination with #MRCC at Sri Vijay Puram”.

ICG ships ‘Varad’ and ‘Anmol’ have been deployed for the search-and-rescue efforts, while ‘Vijit’ has also been engaged from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the operation, the ICG official said.

The MV Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore from Odisha, officials had earlier said.