India launches rescue mission as Panama-flagged cargo ship sinks off east coast

India’s maritime rescue agency lost communication on Saturday with a Panama-flagged cargo vessel that sank off the coast of eastern ‌India, the Indian coastguard said.The vessel had 24 crew on board, including 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to Commandant Amit Uniyal, a spokesman for the coastguard.The coastguard sent two vessels for the search-and-rescue mission ‌from Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly known as Port Blair, Uniyal said.The coastguard has ‌rescued two people from life rafts. The search-and-rescue ⁠mission ⁠is under way for the seafarers on the vessel, the agency ‌said.The Ocean Winner was carrying iron ore to Singapore after departing from ‌India’s ‌eastern Paradip port on Thursday, according to government ‌sources, adding that the ship sank around 240 nautical ⁠miles (448km) from the port.The cause of the sinking was ⁠unknown.