Maritime and aerial search operations intensified with Chinese assistance to locate remaining missing crew members

New Delhi, 27 August (H.S.):The wreckage of the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Ocean Winner, which sank on Saturday around 240 nautical miles (444 kilometres) off the Paradip coast in the Bay of Bengal, has not yet been located. Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday brought two Chinese nationals rescued from among the vessel’s 24 crew members to Paradip and handed them over to representatives of the authorised company. The two survivors, who were rescued from a liferaft, received medical care aboard the Indian Coast Guard vessel during their transit.

The Panama-flagged MV Ocean Winner was carrying 1,700 tonnes of iron ore from Paradip Port to Singapore. The vessel departed on the night of August 20 and subsequently lost contact while sailing through the sea. The Indian Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre received information about the loss of contact with the vessel at 11:48 a.m. on August 22. At the time, the vessel had 24 crew members on board, comprising 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national.

Following the alert, the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy launched a joint search-and-rescue operation. The ICG deployed two vessels, Varad and Anmol, for the rescue mission, while another vessel, Vijit, was dispatched from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the operation.

Indian Coast Guard Commandant Amit Uniyal said ICGS Varad rescued two Chinese crew members, Pan Tonglai and Chen Jianhe, from a liferaft on August 22. He said the two survivors were provided medical care aboard the vessel while being brought to Paradip.

They were subsequently handed over to representatives of the authorised company in the presence of officials from the Bureau of Immigration and local police authorities, he said.

Commandant Uniyal said maritime and aerial search operations had been intensified to locate the remaining missing crew members. China’s main Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre at Sri Vijaya Puram is maintaining continuous coordination with all assets involved in the ongoing rescue efforts.

He further said that at around 7 a.m. on August 25, a lifeboat belonging to MV Ocean Winner was located within the search area. A boarding team inspected the lifeboat, but no crew members were found alive.

Following this, additional Coast Guard vessels and merchant vessels were deployed in the area. ICGS Varad is continuing an extensive search for the missing crew members in coordination with merchant vessels operating in the vicinity.

During an aerial search, a naval aircraft detected a distress transmission and guided the search operation towards the indicated location. Subsequently, ICGS Varad detected an emergency beacon in the area. Verification confirmed that the beacon was associated with MV Ocean Winner.

Additional Coast Guard assets are being deployed to further strengthen the ongoing search-and-rescue operation and maximise efforts to locate the missing crew members.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar