Panama-flagged cargo ship sinks in Bay of Bengal

A Panama-flagged cargo ship sank in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, around 240 nautical miles off the Paradip coast in Odisha, officials said. Two survivors were rescued from two liferafts at around 8 pm.

The ship, with 24 crew members on board, was heading towards Singapore carrying iron ore from Odisha.

The Indian Coast Guard said MRCC (SVP) received information at 11:48 am on August 22 about the loss of communication with MV Ocean Winner, carrying 24 crew members, including 20 Chinese, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi.

"The vessel’s last known position was 317 East Island Lt 310 NM. MRCC (SVP) activated ISN and diverted MT AISOPOS to search for the vessel/liferafts and render assistance, and the vessel recovered two survivors from two liferafts at about 2000 hrs,"said Indian Coast Guard.

Other vessels in the vicinity have been alerted to assist in the rescue effort, a senior official told news agency PTI.

ICGS Varad and ICGS Anmol were deployed for SAR efforts, while ICGS Vijit was also deployed from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the operation.