The Indian navy and coast guard were racing against time on Sunday to rescue two dozen seafarers after a Panama-flagged cargo vessel sank off its eastern coast.
Two Chinese sailors from the MV Ocean Winner were rescued late Saturday while three ships were deployed to conduct surface searches for the remaining 22 crew members, authorities said.
“Their health condition is stable and they are under medical care,” a coast Guard spokesperson, Amit Uniyal, told the Indian Express. “All efforts are being made to trace others.”
The vessel carrying 71,000 metric tonnes of iron ore developed a list on Friday and sank within eight minutes in the Bay of Bengal, forcing the crew to abandon ship, said Shyam Jagannathan, head of the Indian Maritime Administration. The cause of the tragedy is yet to be established.
Mr Jagannathan said the chances of finding survivors generally fall sharply after 12 hours, but rescuers were continuing the search. Rough sea conditions in the Bay of Bengal were hampering the operation.
The missing sailors included 18 from China, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh, according to the Indian coast guard, which deployed two vessels from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly called Port Blair, for the search-and-rescue operation. The Eastern Naval Command sent a surveillance aircraft to assist the coast guard.
Indian authorities also asked the MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel in the vicinity, to help the ship in distress.
The Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore to China from the eastern Indian port of Paradip in Odisha state. It sank about 444km from the Paradip coast.
India's ports and shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that multiple agencies were coordinating closely and actively in search and rescue efforts. "Two survivors have been successfully rescued and are being given medical care. Their rank and identity are currently being verified," he wrote on social media. "My prayers for the safety of the remaining crew."
In 2009, a Mongolian ship, MV Black Rose, carrying 24,000 tonnes of iron ore, sank 3km off the Paradip coast. The ship’s chief engineer, a Ukrainian national, died but the rest of the crew members were safely rescued.
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