A search-and-rescue operation was continuing on Sunday after a cargo ship sank off the eastern coast of India.

The Panama-flagged vessel Ocean Winner had 24 crew on board when it sank on Friday. Two Chinese nationals were rescued on Saturday, with 22 people still unaccounted for, the Indian Coast Guard said.

The two rescued Chinese seafarers said the vessel developed a list on Friday and ​sank within eight minutes, forcing crew to abandon ship, said Shyam Jagannathan, ​director general of India’s Maritime Administration.

‘Developing a list’ is a technical maritime term which means the vessel began tilting. The cause for this was not immediately known.

Search on for missing crew

The chances of finding survivors fell sharply after 12 hours, but rescuers were continuing the search, Jagannathan ​said.

The missing crew members include 18 ‌Chinese ​nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to the Indian Coast Guard. In a post on X, it said it had deployed three ships to conduct surface searches for the remaining crew members.

According to officials cited in the Indian Express, the ship was about 240 nautical miles (444km, 276 miles) off the coast of Odisha. 

According to ship-tracking app MarineTraffic, the Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore from Paradip port in Odisha to Singapore.

DW