India's southern state of Kerala has issued a high alert along its coastal areas and asked fishermen not to venture near the site of an accident where a container ship carrying hazardous cargo sank off its coast in the Arabian Sea.

The Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA 3 was sailing between the Indian ports of Vizhinjam and Kochi when it sank about 38 nautical miles off Kerala in the early morning hours. All 24 crew members were rescued, India's defence ministry said.

The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with unspecified "hazardous cargo" and 12 containing calcium carbide. It also had 84.44 metric tons of diesel and 367.1 metric tons of furnace oil in its tanks.

The Indian Coast Guard rescue the container ship's crew in the Arabian Sea. – AP 

The Kerala chief minister's office has urged people to stay away from some of the containers that began washing ashore. It also advised fishermen not to venture too close to the sunken ship.

The Indian Coast Guard said it had sent an aircraft with an oil spill detection system to survey the area. It has also deployed a ship carrying pollution control equipment to the site of the accident.