BHUBANESWAR: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has intensified search and rescue operations after a Panama-flagged bulk carrier carrying 24 crew members sank in the Bay of Bengal on August 22, around 230 nautical miles off the Paradip coast of Odisha, officials said on Sunday.
The MV Ocean Winner was carrying "20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi" on board, they said.
Two crew members were rescued on Saturday.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) diverted MT Aisopos, a commercial vessel that was in the vicinity, to "search for the vessel or liferafts and render assistance, and the vessel recovered two survivors from two liferafts at about 2000 hrs", an ICG spokesperson had said on Saturday.
The ICG has deployed three ships to conduct surface searches for the remaining crew members, it said in a post on X on Sunday.
ICG ships ‘Varad’ and ‘Anmol’ have been deployed for the search-and-rescue efforts, while ‘Vijit’ has also been engaged from Sri Vijaya Puram to augment the operation, the ICG official said.
The MV Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore from Odisha, officials had earlier said.
(With inputs from PTI)