Search intensifies for 22 missing sailors after ship sinks off Odisha coast

Mangalore Today News Network

Bhubaneswar, Aug 24, 2026: The Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy intensified a search operation on Sunday for 22 crew members of a Panama-flagged bulk carrier that sank in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, officials said.

The MV Ocean Winner, carrying 24 crew members, sank on Saturday while sailing from Paradip to China with around 72,000 tonnes of iron ore. Two crew members, both Chinese nationals, were rescued within hours of the incident during a joint operation involving the Coast Guard and Navy.

The two survivors were being brought ashore aboard a nearby vessel. However, there was no trace of the remaining 22 crew members or the sunken vessel more than 24 hours after the incident, officials said.

The ship had departed Paradip on August 20 with 20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi crew members.

The Andaman and Nicobar Command said sustained monitoring and aerial searches by a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft led to the detection of two floating liferafts and an oil slick near the reported location 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 the vessel, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Sri Vijaya Puram diverted the nearby commercial vessel MT Aisopos to search for the ship and any liferafts and provide assistance, the Coast Guard said.

Three Coast Guard ships have been deployed for the surface search, with Varad, Anmol and Vijit involved in the operation. The Eastern Naval Command also redeployed a P-8I aircraft for the search-and-rescue mission in coordination with the MRCC.

Union Minister for Shipping Sarbananda Sonowal described the incident as unfortunate and said all agencies were coordinating closely in the search and rescue operation.

Meanwhile, former Odisha minister Pritiranjan Gharai of the BJD called for an independent inquiry into the transportation of iron ore fines to China and the circumstances surrounding the ship’s sinking.

Gharai said the state government should establish the quantity and value of the mineral cargo, its ownership and destination, and demanded an independent investigation into the incident. He also alleged that mining theft had caused significant losses to the state.

The sinking has also brought back memories of earlier ship incidents off the Odisha coast. In September 2009, the Mongolian-flagged MV Black Rose sank near Paradip while carrying around 23,847 tonnes of iron ore and 920 tonnes of furnace oil.

In another incident that year, the Vietnam-flagged MV Vinalines Mighty developed a serious stability problem while carrying around 24,500 tonnes of iron ore from Paradip. The vessel was eventually saved after issuing an SOS when it began to tilt.