Search intensifies as 22 sailors remain missing over 24 hours after vessel sinks off Odisha coast
The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy on Sunday intensified the search for 22 crew members of a Panama-flagged bulk carrier that sank in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, officials said.
There were 24 crew members in the ship, and a joint search operation involving three Indian Coast Guard ships and an Indian Navy aircraft rescued two of them within hours of the incident on Saturday.
The two survivors, both Chinese nationals, were being brought ashore by a ship. However, there was no trace of the 22 crew members or the ship more than 24 hours after it sank, officials said.
The ill-fated vessel, MV Ocean Winner, was carrying iron ore from Odisha's Paradip port to China when it sank. It had sailed from Paradip on August 20 with 24 crew members -- 20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi, officials said.
In a statement, the Andaman and Nicobar Command of the Indian Navy said sustained monitoring and focused aerial searches by a P-8I aircraft led to the detection of two floating liferafts and an oil slick near the reported position of the vessel.
"Currently, two survivors have been safely rescued by MV AOSPOS and are under medical care. Search efforts continue and are currently in progress," it said.
Following a distress alert from MV Ocean Winner, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair) diverted MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel in the vicinity, to search for the vessel or liferafts and render assistance, an Indian Coast Guard spokesperson said.
The Coast Guard said it had deployed three ships to conduct surface searches for the remaining crew members.
The Eastern Naval Command said in a social media post that a P-8I aircraft "on surveillance sortie was rapidly re-deployed for Search & Rescue mission" in coordination with the MRCC.
Coast Guard ships Varad and Anmol have been deployed for the search operation, while Vijit has also been engaged from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the efforts, officials said.
The MV Ocean Winner was carrying around 72,000 tonnes of iron ore, while its cargo-carrying capacity is about 73,000 tonnes, they said.
Union Minister for Shipping Sarbananda Sonowal described the incident as "unfortunate" and said all agencies were coordinating closely in the search and rescue operation.
"Deeply concerned by the unfortunate incident involving MV OCEAN WINNER off the coast of Odisha. The Panama-flagged vessel was carrying iron ore from Paradip Port to China. All agencies are coordinating closely and actively doing search and rescue efforts," he said in a social media post.
Former Odisha minister Pritiranjan Gharai of the BJD demanded an independent inquiry into the transportation of iron ore fines to China and the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the vessel.
"The state government must know the event, because these are mineral resources belonging to the state. We demand to know the value and quantity of the material being carried, who owns it and the destination of the vessel. We also demand an independent and impartial inquiry into the incident," he said.
"There have been many instances of mining theft in the state, due to which the state is losing thousands of crores every month and year. The present government is unable to check mining theft," he alleged.
The Mongolian-flagged MV Black Rose sank off Paradip on September 9, 2009. The vessel, which developed technical problems, sank a few kilometres from the coast while carrying around 23,847 tonnes of iron ore and 920 tonnes of furnace oil.
In another incident in 2009, the Vietnam-flagged MV Vinalines Mighty developed a serious stability problem while carrying around 24,500 tonnes of iron ore from Paradip. The vessel, however, was saved after sending an SOS when it began to tilt.
NATIONAL BHUBANESWAR
