A search and rescue operation is continuing in the Bay of Bengal for 22 seafarers missing after the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Winner sank with 24 crew members aboard.

India’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Sri Vijaya Puram initiated the operation on August 22 after receiving a distress alert and subsequently losing contact with the vessel. The bulk carrier was approximately 230 nautical miles southeast of Paradip at the time.

The crew comprised 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national. A distress message transmitted through the International Safety Net led merchant ships in the area to divert towards the casualty location.

The tanker Aisopos rescued two survivors from life rafts. The Indian Coast Guard deployed three ships to search for the other 22 crew members, who remained unaccounted for.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation expressed concern for the families of the missing seafarers and urged Panama, as the vessel’s flag state, to investigate the sinking as a matter of urgency.

No official cause has been established. The casualty has, however, drawn further attention to cargo liquefaction, a hazard associated with certain dry bulk commodities. Liquefaction can occur when moisture causes cargo that appears solid to behave like a liquid. Movement of the cargo can undermine a vessel’s stability and, in severe circumstances, lead to a rapid capsize. Iron ore fines are among the materials that may be susceptible.

INTERCARGO, the International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners, identified cargo liquefaction as the bulk carrier sector’s deadliest hazard in its latest casualty report. According to the association, 17 bulk carriers of at least 10,000 deadweight tonnes were lost worldwide from 2016 to 2025, resulting in 71 seafarer fatalities. Liquefaction was linked to 37 of those deaths.

The Ocean Winner sinking follows the loss earlier in 2026 of the 56,000-dwt Devon Bay, which was carrying nickel ore. When INTERCARGO issued its report, two crew members had been confirmed dead and four remained missing. Survivor accounts cited by the Philippine Coast Guard initially indicated that excessive moisture in the vessel’s approximately 55,000-tonne cargo may have contributed to a sudden shift during rough weather. Authorities emphasised that liquefaction was only a suspected cause at that stage.

INTERCARGO has called for heightened caution when transporting nickel ore, bauxite, iron ore fines and other cargoes vulnerable to liquefaction, particularly when loading takes place in wet conditions.

While the association says the rolling 10-year average for annual bulk carrier losses is declining despite fleet growth, the immediate focus in the Ocean Winner casualty remains the search for the 22 missing seafarers.