Two people have been rescued after the bulk carrier Ocean Winner (IMO: 9145530) on Saturday lost contact and sank off India's eastern coast after departing from Odisha's Paradip Port a day earlier.
The Panama-flagged ship had been carrying 24 crew members, of whom 20 were Chinese, three were from Myanmar, and one was from Bangladesh.
The Indian Coast Guard has confirmed that the Ocean Winner has sunk in the Bay of Bengal, while maritime trackers show its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder switched off, with its last position update transmitted more than 24 hours ago.
It had been en route to the Singapore Port when it lost contact about 310 nautical miles (NM) off the East Island Lighthouse of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as per an ANI report.
Constructed in 1998, the Panamax bulk carrier Ocean Winner measures 225m long, and had been carrying about 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines.
The report added that it was when the crude oil tanker Aisopos (IMO: 9987029) was diverted from its original destination—the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh—to help search for survivors that two of the missing ship's crew members were found at about 8 PM on Saturday aboard two liferafts.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy have now launched a joint operation to locate and rescue the crew members of the ship following the incident.
The ICG vessels Varad and Anmol have been deployed for immediate search and rescue efforts, while the Vijit has left from Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair) to augment the operation.
The cause of the ship losing contact and sinking is yet to be investigated, as efforts are on to find the remainder of its crew.
