NEW DELHI - A container vessel belonging to Liberia carrying hazardous cargo sank off the Kochi coast in southern India due to flooding.

All the 24 crew members onboard the vessel were rescued, said India's Defence Ministry in an official statement issued on Sunday.

The Liberian container vessel "MSC ELSA 3 (IMO NO. 9123221)" sank at around 7:50 am.

According to the statement, the emergency began on Saturday when the ill-fated vessel developed a 26-degree starboard list approximately 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi city in southern Kerala. Subsequently, it lost stability, prompting a distress call.

"The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide. It was also loaded with 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil," said the statement.

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While 21 crew members were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the rest were safely pulled out by personnel onboard the Indian Navy's vessel, INS Sujata. The crew members reportedly hailed from different countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and the Philippines.

The ministry's statement further said that full pollution response preparedness had been activated by the ICG, even as no oil spill had been detected so far.