Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 23: The Indian coast guard and Indian Navy have rescued two crew members of the Panama-flagged cargo ship, which sank in the Bay of Bengal, around 240 nautical miles off the Odisha coast on Saturday.
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.
The MV Ocean Winner, carrying 20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi” on board, sank on Saturday, they said. Two crew members were rescued, informed Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
“Deeply concerned by the unfortunate incident involving MV OCEAN WINNER off the coast of Odisha. The Panama-flagged vessel was carrying iron ore from Paradip Port to China. All agencies are coordinating closely and actively doing search and rescue efforts. 2 survivors have been successfully rescued and are being given medical care; their rank and identity are currently being verified. My prayers for the safety of the remaining crew,” Sonowal wrote on X.
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 hours.
The ICG has deployed three ships to conduct surface searches for the remaining crew members, it said in a post on X on Sunday.
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 over 70 million tonnes iron ore from Odisha, officials had earlier said
