Amid search efforts for the 22 missing crew members of the bulk carrier Ocean Winner (IMO: 9145530), which capsized in the Bay of Bengal on August 21, the cause of the tragedy has been revealed by two seafarers rescued from the vessel.
The Panama-flagged ship, which left from the Paradip Port in Odisha with 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines, had been en route to the Singapore Port when it lost contact at about 4:45 PM on Friday and capsized about 310 nautical miles (NM) off the East Island Lighthouse of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Two Chinese seafarers from its 24-member foreign crew were found on Saturday aboard liferafts after the crude oil tanker Aisopos (IMO: 9987029) was diverted from its original destination—the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh—to aid search efforts.
They later told the authorities that the ship had developed a list (it tilted heavily to one side), which caused it to sink in less than ten minutes.
A Maritime Executive report noted that liquefaction could be the most likely cause behind the ship suddenly listing, keeping in mind the ship's cargo, and how fast it developed a list, and how fast it sank afterwards.
Liquefaction is a process by which dry soil-like bulk cargo—such as iron ore fines, nickel ore or bauxite—may change into a liquid-like state inside the cargo hold, which could lead to it 'flowing' to either side of the ship (free surface effect) and causing it to tilt.
Indeed, liquefaction is one of the deadliest hazards in shipping, and bulk cargo like iron and nickel ores happen to be one of the most susceptible to this phenomenon as well, as per the International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners.
The 1998-built Panamax bulk carrier Ocean Winner measures 225m long, and was in its end-of-life period, according to data from the Equasis database.
The data also showed that periodic inspections from various nations had also flagged several deficiencies with the bulk carrier in the past, with Bangladesh most recently pointing out three problems, including one with the ship's magnetic compass.
As a part of joint operations by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Indian Navy, launched on August 22, efforts are still underway to find the 22 missing crew members, with ICG vessels Varad, Anmol, and Vijit actively scouting the Bay of Bengal for any traces of them.
However, apart from an oil slick detected near the last-known position of the Ocean Winner and the two liferafts that were later discovered, no other traces of the vessel or its crew have been found yet, as per the ICG.
