The Ocean Winner has sunk in the Bay of Bengal with 24 crew members on board. Two sailors have been rescued, while a search for the remaining 22 continues.
A large-scale search and rescue operation is underway in the Bay of Bengal following the sinking of the Ocean Winner. The Panama-flagged vessel sank on Saturday approximately 240 nautical miles from Paradip on India’s eastern coast. There were 24 people on board, but only two have been rescued so far.
According to Splash 24/7, the 73,000-ton bulk carrier departed Paradip on August 20 carrying approximately 72,000 tons of iron ore fines. Its destination was listed as Singapore, although Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the vessel was bound for China.
A distress alert was received at around 11:48 a.m. local time after contact with the Ocean Winner was lost. An Indian P-8I aircraft located liferafts in the area and relayed information about their position to the nearby tanker Aisopos. At around 8:00 p.m., the tanker rescued two survivors.
The remaining crew members have not yet been located. They include 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national. The nationalities of the two rescued sailors have not been disclosed, and they are receiving medical treatment.
Indian Coast Guard and Navy vessels, along with other ships in the area, have joined the search effort. The cause of the sinking of the 225-meter-long bulk carrier remains unknown.
The Ocean Winner was built in 1998 at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard. During its operational history, the vessel changed names several times: it initially sailed as the Tiara Globe, was later renamed Sun Winner II, and received its current name in late 2023.
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