Coast Guard sources said rough sea conditions and high tides in the middle of the Bay of Bengal are hampering the search and rescue by limiting visibility. (Representational Image)It’s a race against time in the Bay of Bengal, where over 150 personnel of the Indian Coast Guard and a surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy are mounting a massive search and rescue operation for 22 crew members of a merchant vessel, which sank off the Odisha coast late on Saturday.Coast Guard sources said that with no breakthrough so far in the search for the crew members of MV Ocean Winner, they have expanded their area of operation.“As the operation progresses, it’s a standard practice to expand the search area based on the inputs from the previous area of search. So far, there has been no update on the whereabouts of the 22 missing crew members,” Coast Guard spokesperson Commandant Amit Uniyal told The Indian Express.Of the 24 crew members in the Panama-flagged vessel, two were rescued on Saturday itself. They were identified as Chinese nationals.In the joint search operation, the Indian Coast Guard has deployed three ships with around 150 personnel while the Eastern Naval Command has also deployed an aircraft – P8I – on surveillance sortie. At least two merchant vessels have been deployed in the search operation.Also Read | Panama-flagged ship with 24 crew members sinks off Odisha coastCoast Guard sources said rough sea conditions and high tides in the middle of the Bay of Bengal are hampering the search and rescue by limiting visibility. Also, the mishap occurred at a location in the Bay of Bengal where the sea is known to be extremely deep, making the search and rescue operation an all the more challenging task.MV OCEAN WINNER sank around 230 nautical miles (425 km) from the Paradip coast of Odisha. 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.Story continues below this adOn the two rescued sea farers, an official source said, “The crew members — both Chinese nationals — are most likely to be brought to Paradip Port in a day or two. The next move will be decided after consultation at the top level.”The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi is also in touch with officials at different levels to take stock of the situation, the sources said.The reasons behind the mishap, meanwhile, are yet to be ascertained. According to officials, 20 of the 24 crew members are Chinese nationals, three are from Myanmar and one is from Bangladesh.On Sunday, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said all agencies are coordinating closely and actively involved in search and rescue efforts.Sujit Bisoyi is a Special Correspondent with the Indian Express and covers Odisha. His interests are in politics, policy and people’s stories. He tweets at @bisoyisujit87 ... Read More