Search continues for 22 after bulk carrier sinks off India

NEW DELHI: India's Coast ​Guard and Navy continued ​search-and-rescue operations off the eastern coast on Sunday after a Panama-flagged cargo vessel carrying 24 crew sank, with two Chinese nationals rescued, a senior official said.
The two rescued Chinese seafarers said ⁠the vessel developed a list on Friday and ⁠sank within eight minutes, forcing crew to abandon ship, Shyam Jagannathan, director general of India's Maritime Administration, told Reuters.
Jagannathan said ‌the chances of finding survivors ​generally fall sharply ⁠after 12 hours, but rescuers were ​continuing the search.
Twenty-two crew members ‌remain missing from the Ocean Winner, including 18 Chinese nationals, three ​Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to the Indian Coast Guard.
The Indian Navy is closely coordinating with the Coast Guard to locate the remaining crew, the Navy said ‌in a post on X.
The Coast Guard has ​sent two vessels from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known ​as ‌Port ⁠Blair, for the search-and-rescue operation, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.
The Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore ​bound for China after departing from India's ⁠eastern Paradip ​port on Friday, according to an initial report prepared from India's Maritime Administration.
The cargo ship sank about 240 nautical miles from the port, according to ​government sources.
The cause of the sinking was ​not immediately known.