Search Continues for 22 After Bulk Carrier Sinks Off India

Reuters

Indian Navy Ship.

India's Coast Guard and Navy continued search-and-rescue operations off the eastern coast on Sunday after a Panama-flagged ‌cargo vessel carrying 24 crew sank, with two Chinese nationals rescued, Reuters reported citing a senior official.

The two rescued Chinese seafarers said the vessel developed a list on Friday and sank within eight minutes, forcing crew to abandon ⁠ship, Shyam Jagannathan, director general of India's Maritime Administration, told Reuters.

Jagannathan said the chances of finding survivors generally fall sharply after 12 hours, but rescuers were continuing the search.

Twenty-two crew members remain missing after the cargo ship Ocean Winner sank off the Indian coast, according to the Indian Coast Guard. The missing crew include 18 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national.

The Indian Navy is closely coordinating with the Coast Guard in efforts to locate the missing crew, the Navy said in a post on X.

The Coast Guard has deployed two vessels from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known as Port Blair, to assist with the search-and-rescue operation, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

According to an initial report prepared by India’s Maritime Administration, the Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore bound for China after departing from the eastern Indian port of Paradip on Friday.

The cargo ship sank approximately 240 nautical miles from the port, according to government sources.



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