Cargo Ship MV Ocean Winner Sinks in Bay of Bengal

A Panama-flagged cargo ship, MV Ocean Winner, sank in the Bay of Bengal approximately 240 nautical miles off the Paradip coast in Odisha while carrying 72,100 metric tonnes of iron ore fines. The vessel was en route from Paradip to Singapore with 24 crew members on board, comprising 20 Chinese, three Myanmarese and one Bangladeshi national. The Indian Coast Guard launched a large-scale search and rescue operation following the sinking, deploying its ships Varad, Anmol and Vijay, supported by Indian Navy assets. Two survivors were recovered from life rafts by the commercial vessel MT Isopos. Search operations remain underway to locate the remaining missing crew members, with authorities yet to confirm the cause of the sinking. The incident has renewed attention on maritime safety along busy shipping routes in the Bay of Bengal, where vessels frequently transit between Indian ports and Southeast Asia.