The Panama-flagged vessel went down on Saturday (22 Aug) around 240 nautical miles off Paradip on India’s east coast.   The 72,928 dwt bulker had sailed from Paradip on August 20 carrying around 72,000 tonnes of iron ore fines. Its reported AIS destination was Singapore, although Indian shipping minister SarbanandaSonowal described the voyage as China-bound.   The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Sri Vijaya Puram was notified at around 11.48am local time on Saturday that communication with the vessel had been lost.   An Indian Navy P-8I surveillance aircraft was redirected to the area and located liferafts before coordinating with the nearby tanker Aisopos. The tanker recovered two survivors from separate liferafts at around 8pm.

Coast Guard vessels have been deployed for the surface search, while other ships in the area have also been asked to assist.

The ship’s 24 crew comprised 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and one from Bangladesh. The nationalities of the two rescued seafarers have not been disclosed. They are receiving medical treatment while the search continues for the remaining 22.   Vessel databases list Fuzhou-based Ocean Winner Shipping as the ship’s registered owner, commercial manager and ISM manager. It is recorded as a single-ship company. Victory Star Group, meanwhile, made the request for search-and-rescue assistance and has been identified in Indian reporting as the vessel’s operator.     The 225-metre ship was built at Hudong-Zhonghua in 1998. It previously traded as Tiara Globe in the Globus Maritime fleet before the Greek owner sold it for $5.5m in 2015. It was subsequently renamed Sun Winner II and took its current name in late 2023.

The cause of the sinking has not been established.