Odisha, India: The A Panama-flagged cargo ship carrying iron ore from Paradip to Singapore has sunk in the Bay of Bengal, triggering a search-and-rescue operation for 22 crew members still missing after two others were rescued.
The vessel, MV Ocean Winner, had 24 people on board when it lost contact with maritime authorities. It was carrying around 72,000 tonnes of iron ore loaded at Paradip Port and was heading towards Singapore when the incident occurred.
The crew included 20 Chinese nationals, three people from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh. Two crew members were later found on separate liferafts and rescued by a nearby merchant vessel, MT Aisopos. The other 22 remain unaccounted for.
The ship had departed Paradip late on August 20. The first indication of trouble came after communication with the vessel was lost. India’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre then began coordinating the search, alerting vessels operating in the area and diverting the nearby merchant ship to assist.
The Indian Coast Guard has deployed multiple vessels for the operation, including ICGS Varad, ICGS Anmol and ICGS Vijit. Other ships in the area have also been asked to keep watch for survivors and liferafts.
The search is taking place about 240 nautical miles from Paradip, far out in the Bay of Bengal. That distance, along with changing sea conditions and currents, makes locating people in liferafts particularly difficult.
Authorities have not yet established why the vessel sank.
The ship had reportedly disappeared from maritime tracking systems before the incident. Investigators will have to determine whether the loss of its tracking signal was connected to a technical problem, an emergency or another cause. At this stage, there is no confirmed explanation for what happened aboard the vessel.
For the families of the missing crew, the search is now a race against time. The two people already rescued show that survival is possible, but the remaining crew members have been missing while the search area continues to be affected by the movement of wind and water.
The incident also has a direct connection to Odisha’s maritime economy. Paradip is one of India’s major ports for handling bulk cargo, and the Ocean Winner had only recently left the port with a large shipment of iron ore.
But the cargo is no longer the immediate concern.
The Coast Guard and other vessels are continuing to search the area for the missing crew. Until more survivors are found or authorities establish what happened to the ship, the operation remains focused on one priority: bringing the people still missing back safely.
The cause of the sinking will have to wait for a fuller investigation. For now, the search at sea continues.
