Bangalore, July 18 (IANS) A Chinese ship carrying 13,000 tonnes of iron ore is adrift in choppy waters of the Arabian sea off the Mangalore coast and the Indian Coast Guard planes are not able to locate it due to inclement weather, an official said Saturday.
“Our Dorniers have not sighted the ship and search is on despite the bad weather,” Assistant Commandant D.K. Sharma of the Coast Guard said by phone from Mangalore.

The ship, Asian Forest, set sail Friday morning from New Mangalore port with iron ore to China but soon sent out distress signals as it began tilting dangerously. Coast Guard personnel rescued all the 18 Chinese crew members, Sharma said.

“The crew have been handed over to their local agent and will be sent home,” he said. Mangalore is about 350 km from Bangalore.

“There is 70:30 chance of ship not sinking. Our divers are ready to search for the ship but bad weather has been holding them,” Sharma said.

On the possibility of pollution from the iron ore spilling into the sea, Sharma said: “We are on alert for that also and will take steps to prevent it.”