India, May 27 -- A salvage firm has been deputed to assess the number of cargo containers that fell into the sea off the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel and to remove the debris of the ship that sank on May 25 off the coast of Kochi, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has confirmed that the oil spill, which emanated from the leak of the ship's fuel, was being managed and that no oil has made its way to the Kerala coastline.

The Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA 3, which was carrying over 640 containers including 13 containing hazardous cargo, capsized early May 25 around 14.5 nautical miles from the coast. Its 24 crew members were rescued by the ICG and the Navy.

The scattering of the containers into the...