Kolkata:
Crew members of the MV Bingo, a China-bound merchant vessel which lost contact with the ground staff yesterday after Cyclone Phailin struck coastal Odisha, have been located. All 20 crew members are reported to be safe.
The Panama-registered sea vessel, carrying 8,000 tonnes of iron ore, had left for China from the Sagar anchorage in West Bengal on October 11. According to a Coast Guard official, the ship was last located 25 nautical miles south-southwest of Sagar, about 100 km from Kolkata.
Officials of the Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) said that the crew had been last sighted on a lifeboat, adding that the ship was feared to have sunk.
"The crew was sighted on a lifeboat yesterday east of Sagar, 25km from the coast," KPT chairman RPS Kahlon told PTI.
A Dornier aircraft and a hovercraft belonging to the Coast Guard had been pressed into service to locate the ship which had sailed with 19 Chinese and one Indonesian crew member on board.
The crew are now being brought back to Haldia Port where they are expected to arrive by tomorrow evening. The vessel, though, is yet to be located.
Cyclonic storm Phailin had slammed India's east coast near Gopalpur in Odisha on Saturday, triggering heavy rains and strong winds with speeds reaching up to 200 km an hour. As per international practice, ships are advised to stay in the open sea instead of the harbour to avoid damage.