Vessel sinks after loss of contact

A Panama-flagged bulk carrier, MV Ocean Winner, sank in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, August 22, after maritime authorities lost communication with the ship off India’s eastern coast. Multiple outlets, including ANI, The Economic Times, Deccan Chronicle and The Tribune, reported that the vessel went down roughly 200 to 240 nautical miles from Paradip port in Odisha, with accounts clustering around 230 to 240 nautical miles southeast of the port.

The ship carried 24 crew members: 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh, according to Indian Coast Guard statements carried widely by ANI, Business Today, CNBC TV18, Hindustan Times and others. Two survivors were recovered from liferafts the same evening; a search continued for the remaining 22.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Sri Vijaya Puram received word at 11:48 a.m. on August 22 of lost contact with MV Ocean Winner and a request for search-and-rescue assistance from Victory Star Group Co Ltd, the company associated with the vessel. Officials said the ship’s last reported position was near 317 East Island Light, about 310 nautical miles away. The vessel had disappeared from tracking systems after leaving Paradip, several reports noted.

Cargo, route and departure

MV Ocean Winner had loaded iron ore fines at Paradip and was bound for Singapore, with an estimated arrival of August 27, according to MarineTraffic data cited by ANI, Deutsche Welle, CNA and Moneycontrol. A number of other accounts, including statements attributed to Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and reports in Hindustan Times, Euronews.com and Outlook India, described the voyage as China-bound. Cargo figures also varied across coverage: many outlets, among them Deccan Chronicle, Times Now, The National and THE WEEK, put the load at about 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines, while some early reports referred to roughly 1,700 tonnes.

Departure timing was reported as approximately 10:30 p.m. or 10:42 p.m. on August 20 from Paradip, though some officials and PTI-based stories said the ship left the Odisha coast on Friday or Thursday. The 225-metre-long, 32.26-metre-wide bulk carrier, IMO 9145530, was built in 1998, according to MarineTraffic, Equasis and Coast Guard details carried by ANI, THE WEEK and The Hindu.

Rescue of two survivors

After the alert, the MRCC activated the International Safety Net and diverted the merchant tanker MT Aisopos, which was in the vicinity. The tanker recovered two survivors from two separate liferafts at about 8 p.m. on August 22, the Indian Coast Guard said in statements reported by Business Today, The Economic Times, Lokmat Times and CNBC TV18.

An Indian Navy P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, redeployed from a surveillance sortie, located dispersed liferafts and an oil slick and coordinated with MT Aisopos, according to Eastern Naval Command statements carried by CNA, Lokmat Times, The New Indian Express, Malay Mail and The Tribune. Hindustan Times, citing a Directorate of Maritime Administration report based on the survivors’ account to the tanker’s master, identified the rescued men as Chinese nationals Chen Jianhe and Pan Tonglai. The Straits Times and The National likewise reported the two survivors as Chinese. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the pair were receiving medical care and that their ranks and identities were being verified.

Joint Coast Guard and Navy search

The Indian Coast Guard deployed ICGS Varad and ICGS Anmol and sent ICGS Vijit from Sri Vijaya Puram to reinforce surface searches, as reported across ANI, Business Today, The Economic Times and Deccan Chronicle. The Indian Navy continued to coordinate with the Coast Guard; other merchant vessels in the area were alerted. DIG Sanjay Negi and other local officials indicated that Andaman and Nicobar-based teams were involved and that assets would reach the scene as conditions allowed.

Hindustan Times reported that rough seas in the Bay of Bengal were hampering the search. Shyam Jagannathan, director general of India’s Maritime Administration, told outlets including The Straits Times that survival odds generally fall sharply after 12 hours, while rescuers pressed on. Captain Alekha Charan Sahoo, deputy conservator of the Paradip Port Authority, said he was praying for the crew’s safety.

How the ship went down

Survivors told authorities the vessel developed a list on August 21 and sank within about eight minutes, forcing the crew to abandon ship, according to accounts in Hindustan Times, The Straits Times and The National drawn from the Maritime Administration report. The Mercantile Marine Department in Kolkata was tasked with a preliminary investigation. Officials have not established a definitive cause; authorities said they would examine weather, cargo condition, mechanical failure and the loss of tracking signals, including possible technical issues or AIS-related factors.

Sonowal, in posts on X quoted by Deccan Chronicle, Euronews.com, Outlook India and Times Now, expressed deep concern, said all agencies were coordinating search-and-rescue efforts, and offered prayers for the remaining crew. As of Sunday, August 23, the fates of the 22 missing seafarers remained unknown while surface and air searches continued in the Bay of Bengal.