The Indian Directorate General of Shipping said that a mechanical failure in the ballast management system of the Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC Elsa 3 resulted in its sinking off the coast of Kerala late last month.
Director General of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan said that preliminary investigations have been carried out and have identified the reported system failure.
Ajith Sukumaran, Chief Surveyor of the Indian Government, added that the investigations found, "no evidence of other causes of the sinking at this time."
Sukumaran remarked that a ship's internal power generation system completely fails when the ship itself tilts significantly, thus resulting in power loss.
MSC Elsa 3 developed a 26-degree list as it was underway off Kochi on May 24, one day before it sank.
All 24 of the ship's crew were safely rescued while some of the 640 containers it was carrying at the time has washed up along a number of beaches in Kerala, raising fears of contamination.
Thirteen of the containers had hazardous cargo while another 12 contained calcium carbide, a chemical compound with traces of phosphorous and arsenic.
The Kerala State Government has declared the incident a "state-specific disaster" and has advised local residents to avoid coming into contact with any beached containers.