Malaysian cargo ship drifts towards Odisha

 A Malaysian cargo ship, which was on its way to Visakhapatnam, has anchored near Chilika Lake in Odisha after losing direction following a storm in the Bay of Bengal, police said on Saturday.

It developed a technical glitch after being caught in the high tide and storm in the Bay of Bengal and landed near Rajhans on Wednesday night, said K.C. Mund, Sub-Divisional Police officer of Puri.

The ship carrying iron ore and other minerals from Malaysia had unloaded its shipment in Bangladesh and was on its way to the Vishakhapatnam port. 

However, it lost its way due to technical glitches in the Bay of Bengal and drifted towards Odisha before landing at Rajhans, he added.

The ship has 10 crew members -- seven Malaysian nationals, two from Philippines and one India.

Krushnaprasad police station inspector in-charge Sudhir Ranjan Sahu said engineers and mechanics have been pressed into service for its repair while police personnel have been deployed at the spot. IANS