NEW DELHI, Aug 23, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Rescuers searched on Sunday for 22 people missing after a merchant vessel sank off India's eastern coast, the navy said.

The Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner was headed to Singapore from Paradip port in India's Odisha state, according to MarineTraffic.

The vessel sent a distress alert about 700 kilometres (435 miles) east of Visakhapatnam, the navy said, prompting a joint rescue operation with the Indian coast guard.

Two of the 24 crew members were rescued, it said, adding that a navy patrol aircraft had been redeployed to surveil the area.

The coast guard also deployed three vessels, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported.

"The aircraft located life rafts in the area", and coordinated with a nearby vessel, MT Aisopos, to collect two of the crew from liferafts, the navy said.

Twenty crew members were Chinese, three were from Myanmar and one was Bangladeshi, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing coast guard sources.

The nationalities of the two rescued crew members were not immediately clear.