Bangladeshi sailor among 22 missing after cargo ship sinks in Bay of Bengal

For 40-year-old Bangladeshi sailor Md Abdullah Al Mamun, joining the MV Ocean Winner was meant to mark a major step forward in his career. Recently promoted to fourth engineer, Mamun joined the Panama-flagged bulk carrier on 25 May. But after the vessel sank in the Bay of Bengal off India’s Odisha coast on Saturday, his family and fellow sailors are anxiously waiting for news of his whereabouts.
Two of the vessel’s 24 crew members have been rescued, while Mamun and 21 others remain missing more than 24 hours after the ship lost contact and sank.
The MV Ocean Winner sank about 230-240 nautical miles off Paradip, according to Indian authorities and media reports.
The crew comprised 20 Chinese nationals, three from Myanmar and Mamun, the lone Bangladeshi.
The Indian Coast Guard and Navy have launched a large-scale search and rescue operation.
A promotion turns into a nightmare
Mamun’s batchmate and close friend Sadat Al Kabeju said the promotion was one of the reasons Mamun decided to join the vessel.
“He joined the vessel on 25 May as a fourth engineer. It was a promotion for him. He had worked on the same vessel for a long time before,” Sadat told The Daily Sun.
“We have been together for 26 years. We became sailors together. We slept in the same room and crossed thousands of kilometres of ocean together,” he said.
Mamun, who hailed from Satkhira, had sought Sadat’s advice before joining the vessel.
“I told him to go because he was being promoted. Now I deeply regret telling him that,” Sadat said, breaking down in tears.
“I spoke to Mamun last on Friday night. Since Saturday, I have not been able to reach him online. The company managing the vessel is Chinese. I contacted them, but they could not tell me anything either,” he said.
“Most of the missing crew are Chinese, so there is little information available about Mamun individually. At this moment, we are relying on updates from the Indian Coast Guard,” he added.
Vessel loses contact
The Ocean Winner left Paradip Port at around 10:42pm on 20 August carrying about 72,100 tonnes of iron ore and was bound for Singapore, according to reports.
The 225-metre bulk carrier, built in 1998, subsequently lost communication with shore. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Vijaya Puram received information about the loss of contact at around 11:48am on 22 August and was asked to launch a search and rescue operation by Victory Star Group Co Ltd.
The vessel’s automatic identification system (AIS) also stopped transmitting, according to maritime tracking reports.
Two rescued, 22 missing
Following the distress alert, the MRCC activated the rescue response and diverted the nearby tanker MT Aisopos to assist.
At around 8pm on Saturday, the tanker rescued two Chinese sailors from separate liferafts. They were taken for medical treatment.
The Coast Guard deployed three vessels – ICGS Varad, ICGS Anmol and ICGS Vijit – to search for the remaining crew.
The Indian Navy has also joined the operation, deploying a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to help locate the missing sailors.
The Coast Guard said the search was continuing, with surface vessels scanning the area for survivors and liferafts.