According to the navy, the 184-metre-long vessel MSC ELSA 3 was en route from the Indian port of Vizhinjam to Kochi when it encountered trouble on Saturday and sent out a distress signal.

Navy aircraft were immediately dispatched to the scene and located two life rafts near the ship, which was found listing dangerously about 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi.

“All 24 crew members on board were rescued,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and a navy patrol boat carried out the rescue, retrieving the crew, who are reported to be nationals of Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, and the Philippines.

“The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide,” the statement added.

While the ministry did not disclose the specific contents of the hazardous containers, it noted that calcium carbide is commonly used in chemical industries, particularly in fertiliser production and steelmaking.

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In light of the potential environmental risk, the navy noted that, “Given the sensitive marine ecosystem along Kerala’s coast, ICG has activated full pollution response preparedness.”

The sunken ship was also carrying around 370 tonnes of fuel and oil. However, the Coast Guard assured that “detection systems” had been deployed and “so far, no oil spill has been reported.”