Three days after a cargo ship sank off Odisha coast, an emergency beacon of the vessel and a lifeboat were recovered from the search area in Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. There is no trace of any of the 22 missing crew members of MV Ocean Winner yet.

Since Saturday night, Indian Coast Guard has been conducting an intensive search for the 22 of 24 missing crew members of the Panama-flagged cargo ship.

ICGS Varad, the advanced, indigenously built Vikram-class offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Coast Guard, recovered an emergency beacon from the area, which, on verification, was confirmed to be associated with MV Ocean Winner, said officials.

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“During an aerial search, a naval aircraft detected a distress transmission and guided ICGS Varad towards the reported location. Subsequently, ICGS Varad recovered the emergency beacon,” said Coast Guard spokesperson Commandant Amit Uniyal.

Emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) on a vessel works by automatically or manually transmitting distress signal and position location accuracy.

The rescue team located the lifeboat at 7 am on Tuesday. A boarding team inspected the lifeboat; however, no survivors were found.

Coast Guard sources also confirmed that MRCC Beijing, the Maritime Search and Rescue Centre of China, has also been coordinating with the Indian Coast Guard in the search and rescue operation. It has deployed two of its merchant vessels to intensify the search and rescue operation.

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According to officials, 20 of the 24 crew members of the ship, including the two survivors, are Chinese nationals. While three are from Myanmar, one is from Bangladesh.

“The search for the remaining missing crew members is continuing with sustained efforts, with Coast Guard assets, aircraft and merchant vessels maintaining an extensive search of the area,” said Uniyal.

Additional Coast Guard assets and merchant vessels in the area are being deployed and coordinated to intensify the search operation.

‘Sank with eight minutes’

MV Ocean Winner sank around 230 nautical miles (425 km) from the Paradip coast of Odisha late on Sunday night. Officials said the vessel experienced a tilt and sank within eight minutes.

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It was carrying more than 72,000 tonnes of iron ore from Odisha to China with a stop at Singapore. It left Paradip Port early on Friday morning.

On condition of the two rescued seafarers, an official source said they are on the Coast Guard ship and being brought back to the mainland. Officials said they are likely to be brought to Paradip from where they will be repatriated to China in coordination with Chinese embassy. The directorate of maritime administration, India’s apex maritime regulatory body, may also record statement of the two rescued crew members.