KOCHI/BENGALURU: Authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala were scrambling to contain an oil spill on Monday after a container vessel sank, leaking fuel into the Arabian Sea and releasing 100 cargo containers into the water.

The Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA3 ship was traveling from Vizhinjam on India鈥檚 southern tip to Kochi when it capsized about 38 nautical miles off Kerala on Saturday, officials said, adding that all 24 crew members had been rescued.

The entire ship has since been 鈥渟ubmerged,鈥� the Kerala chief minister鈥檚 office said in a statement on Sunday without elaborating on the cause of the incident.

鈥淭he Coast Guard is taking steps to block the oil with two ships. A Dornier aircraft is also being used to spray oil-destroying powder on the oil slick,鈥� the statement said.

The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with 鈥渉azardous cargo鈥� and 12 with calcium carbide, the Indian coast guard said, without disclosing the contents of the containers that fell into the sea.

Cyprus-based MSC Shipmanagement, which owns the vessel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kerala coast has been put on high alert, with local coastal bodies instructed not to touch or go near the containers 鈥� some of which began washing up on beaches on Monday 鈥� and fishermen advised not to venture into the sea.

Authorities in the state鈥檚 Kollam region have encouraged people living nearby to move to safer places.

Accidental oil spills in the ocean can have far-reaching effects, putting marine ecosystems to the local fishing industry at risk.

The collision of a BW LPG vessel and a local ship carrying heavy fuel oil caused a similar oil spill in 2017 near the southern city of Chennai, which harmed aquatic life and affected the livelihood of thousands of fishermen.