Search Continues for 22 Crew After Bulk Carrier Sinks Off Odisha

The search for 22 missing crew members from the Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner continued on Monday after the vessel sank in the Bay of Bengal about 240 nautical miles off the Paradip coast in Odisha.

Two Chinese nationals were pulled from separate life rafts on Saturday evening by the commercial tanker MT Aisopos. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Sri Vijaya Puram had received a distress call at 1148 hours reporting loss of communication with the ship and a request for assistance.

The Indian Coast Guard deployed ICGS Varad, Anmol and Vijit. The Indian Navy joined the coordinated search. Officials confirmed the 225-metre vessel, with a deadweight of roughly 72,900 tonnes, had loaded about 72,000 tonnes of iron ore fines at Paradip and was bound for Singapore.

Its crew of 24 comprised 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh. The ship left Paradip on 20 August. Communication failed and the vessel vanished from tracking systems before sinking. Reports indicate it developed a list and went down within minutes.

No additional survivors had been located by the end of Sunday. The cause of the sinking remains under investigation. Paradip Port handles large volumes of bulk mineral cargo, and the incident underscores operational risks for fully laden bulk carriers in the Bay of Bengal.