Search continues for 22 after bulk carrier sinks off India

India’s Coast Guard and Navy are continuing search-and-rescue operations off the eastern coast following the sinking of a Panama-flagged cargo vessel, the Ocean Winner. The vessel left India’s eastern Paradip port on Friday en route to China with 24 crew members on board. According to a senior official, two Chinese nationals were successfully rescued from the sinking ship.

The rescued crew members recounted that the vessel began to list on Friday and subsequently sank within eight minutes, compelling the crew to abandon ship.

Shyam Jagannathan, the director general of India’s Maritime Administration, informed Reuters that the likelihood of finding survivors diminishes significantly after 12 hours. Despite this, search efforts are persisting. As of now, 22 crew members remain unaccounted for, comprising 18 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals, and one Bangladeshi, according to the Indian Coast Guard.

The Indian Navy is collaborating closely with the Coast Guard to locate the remaining missing crew members. The Coast Guard has dispatched two vessels from Sri Vijaya Puram, previously known as Port Blair, for this mission. An initial report from India’s Maritime Administration suggests that the Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore destined for China. The sinking occurred approximately 240 nautical miles from the port where the vessel departed on Friday. The precise cause of the sinking remains unknown at this time.