Two Chinese Rescue Vessels Join Search For 22 Missing Crew Of Sunken MV Ocean Winner
Lifeboat, emergency beacon recovered during intensified search off Paradip coast
Bhubaneswar: The search for 22 missing crew members of the Chinese vessel MV Ocean Winner, which sank off the Paradip coast in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district on August 22, intensified on Wednesday with two Chinese rescue vessels joining the operation.
The two rescue vessels, according to latest reports, were carrying out coordinated search operations in the Bay of Bengal along with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, sources said.
The vessel, which was carrying 24 crew members — 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh — sank while carrying iron ore powder. Two crew members have so far been rescued, while the remaining 22 are still missing.
During the search, Indian Coast Guard vessel Varad located a lifeboat believed to be associated with MV Ocean Winner in the deep sea. A boarding team inspected the lifeboat, but found no survivors, sources said.
An emergency beacon was also recovered from the search area after a naval aircraft detected a distress signal during an aerial surveillance operation. Following verification, the beacon was confirmed to be linked to MV Ocean Winner.
The Coast Guard vessel Vishwast has also been deployed to widen the search area, while officials of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) are closely monitoring the operation.
The Indian Navy and Coast Guard were reportedly continuing the search through coordinated sea and aerial operations, with the two Chinese rescue vessels now supplementing the efforts to locate the missing sailors.
According to an MRCC official, information obtained from the two rescued crew members suggested that the vessel sank after listing heavily to one side.
“According to the information received regarding the two rescued crew members, the ship is said to have sunk after listing to one side,” the official said.
The official said the possibility that the vessel became unstable because of cargo shifting could not be ruled out.
“We had mentioned that due to the excessive moisture of the iron ore powder cargo it was carrying, the cargo shifted during its rolling, or the left and right movement, making the ship unstable. Once it became unstable, under those circumstances, the vessel could not recover,” the official said.
The search operation was continuing in the area where the vessel was reported to have sunk, with rescue agencies maintaining round-the-clock surveillance in the hope of locating the missing crew members.
