Search continues for 22 crew after bulk carrier sinks off Odisha

Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessels continued search operations on Monday for 22 missing crew members from the Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner. The ship sank in the Bay of Bengal roughly 240 nautical miles from Paradip, Odisha, on Saturday, August 22, 2026.

Two Chinese nationals were recovered from separate liferafts by the merchant vessel MT Aisopos around 8 p.m. local time that day. The remaining crew includes 18 Chinese, three Myanmar, and one Bangladeshi national. Their fates remain unknown after more than 30 hours.

The 225-metre vessel carried 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines. It departed Paradip Port late on August 20 bound for Singapore. Communication was lost at 11:48 a.m. on Saturday. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Sri Vijaya Puram received the alert from the vessel's management company and activated the International Safety Net.

Coast Guard ships Varad, Anmol, and Vijit joined the effort. The Navy's Eastern Naval Command also deployed assets. Officials have not released the exact cause of the sinking. The ship disappeared from tracking systems before the distress report.

Search patterns focus on the last known position and possible drift of additional liferafts or debris. Weather conditions in the area have been moderate. Survival prospects diminish with each passing hour in open water, especially if crew members lack flotation devices or supplies.

The vessel's IMO number is 9145530. Company representatives have cooperated with Indian authorities. No pollution reports have emerged so far from the cargo of iron ore fines.

Indian maritime authorities treat the incident as a priority search-and-rescue case. Updates will continue as surface and air assets expand the search box.