Two Chinese Survivors of Sunken Cargo Vessel Questioned by Joint Team

Two Chinese crew members rescued from the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Ocean Winner, which sank off the Odisha coast, have been brought to Paradip by the Indian Coast Guard and are being questioned by a joint team.

The survivors, identified as Pan Tonglai and Chen Jianhe, were found on life rafts on August 22, hours after the vessel went down. They are currently receiving medical care and are in the custody of authorised company representatives, according to Coast Guard officials.

Police sources confirmed that the two are being questioned about the circumstances of the incident. "We hope to get details of what happened," a senior police officer said. The survivors are expected to be handed over to the Chinese Embassy after the questioning.

The MV Ocean Winner sank approximately 230 nautical miles (425 km) from Paradip late Sunday night. Officials stated the vessel developed a tilt and sank within eight minutes. The ship was carrying over 72,000 tonnes of iron ore from Odisha to China and had departed Paradip Port early Friday.

A total of 24 crew members were aboard: 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar, and one from Bangladesh. Search and rescue operations are continuing for the remaining 22 crew members.

"Coordinated sea and air search operations continue in full swing to locate the remaining missing crew members," a Coast Guard spokesperson said. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram is coordinating with all assets, including MRCC Beijing, which has deployed two merchant vessels for the rescue effort.

On Tuesday, the rescue team recovered the vessel's emergency beacon and an empty lifeboat from the search area in the Bay of Bengal.