The coast guard has not yet given the cause of the explosion and fire on board the vessel managed by Singapore-based Wan Hai Lines.
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An explosion and subsequent fire were reported onboard a Singapore-flagged container ship off the coast of Kerala in southern India on Monday, a spokesperson for the Indian Coastguard said.
Of the 22 crew members onboard the MV Wan Hai 503, 18 abandoned the vessel with assistance from the Indian Navy and coastguard while four are missing, Commandant Amit Uniyal said in a statement.
One of the rescued crew members sustained serious injuries.
Two of the four missing are nationals of Taiwan, one is from Indonesia and one from Myanmar, Uniyal said.
The navy and coastguard have launched a search operation for the missing, aided by a Dornier aircraft.
The navy uses Dornier aircraft primarily for maritime surveillance, search and rescue operations.
A number of ships have also been sent to help put out the fire some 88 nautical miles (162 km) from the coast of Beypore in Kerala.
"The vessel is presently adrift, and firefighting efforts have commenced to bring the situation under control," said Uniyal.
"Saving lives of the crew in distress, firefighting and mitigating environment hazard remains the priority for coastguard."
He said they were working to establish the details of the ship's cargo and any potential risks it could cause.
The 271-metre vessel left the Sri Lankan port of Colombo on 7 June and was set to arrive in Mumbai on Monday.
The coastguard received a distress alert from the ship Monday morning reporting an explosion and subsequent fire inside one of the containers onboard.
The fire later spread to other containers.
The coastguard has not yet given the cause of the explosion and fire.
The vessel is managed by Singapore-based Wan Hai Lines, according to a statement from Singaporean authorities.
Late last month, a Liberia-flagged container ship sailing between the Indian ports of Vizinjam and Kochi sank off Kerala.
The state government issued a high alert in its coastal areas and asked fishermen not to venture near the site where the container ship, which carried hazardous cargo, had sunk.