Caught in storm, Malaysian cargo ship drifts close to Chilika lake in Odisha

The ship carrying cargo from Malaysia had unloaded its shipment in Bangladesh and was on its way to the Vishakhapatnam port to pick up a new cargo when its machines malfunctioned.

A Malaysian cargo ship on its way to Vishakhapatnam port landed near the mouth of Chilika lake in Odisha on Wednesday night after losing direction in a storm in the Bay of Bengal.

There were eight people in the ship including 7 Malaysians and 1 Indian. (Image used for representational purpose). (BLOOMBERG.)

Police officials said the ship carrying cargo from Malaysia had unloaded its shipment in Bangladesh and was on its way to the Vishakhapatnam port to pick up a new cargo when its machines malfunctioned.

“The ship got caught in a storm in the Bay of Bengal and drifted towards Odisha before landing near the mouth of Chilika lake at Rajhans, a thin stretch of sand separating the Chilika lagoon . The place at which it landed is about 1 km away from the Chilika mouth,” said KC Mund, sub divisional police officer of Puri.

There were eight people in the ship including 7 Malaysians and 1 Indian. “We got to know about the ship only on Thursday. The crew of the ship are getting help from local people near Rajhans. The ship will take 2 more days to get repaired. Our local police staff are there to help the crew of the ship,” Mund said.