VIDEO | 24 rescued as containership sinks off India's southern coast

The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard successfully rescued all 24 crewmembers of a foreign-flagged commercial vessel after it sank off India's southern state of Kerala over the weekend.

The Liberian-registered containership MSC Elsa 3 had earlier departed Vizhinjam Port and was en route to Kochi when her crew sent out a distress call on Saturday, May 24.

The crew informed Indian authorities that the ship had developed a 26-degree list while approximately 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi on Saturday.

Twenty-one of the crew were the first to be rescued while the ship's captain, the chief engineer and the second engineer remained on board to assist in the planned salvage operation.

The ship had a cargo of 640 containers, of which 13 had hazardous cargo and 12 contained calcium carbide, a chemical compound with traces of phosphorous and arsenic. The onboard tanks meanwhile carried 84 tonnes of diesel fuel and over 360 tonnes of furnace oil.

The last three crewmembers were evacuated before the ship finally sank off Kochi on the morning (local time) of Sunday, May 25. All 24 survivors have been brought aboard the Indian Navy patrol vessel INS Sujata.

The coast guard has since begun implementing pollution control measures in anticipation of possible oil spills in the area.