Efforts were on to save a cargo ship from Panama carrying iron ore from Visakhapatnam, which hit a rock in the sea off Manavalakurichi in Kanyakumari and started sinking, official sources said here on Friday.

The ship hit the rock on March 29 and got grounded.

It suffered damages in the middle portion and started sinking today.

All the 25 crew in the ship had been safely evacuated, the sources said.

A ship from Kochi had been rushed to remove the oil .

Steps were being taken to retrieve the ship, the sources said.