Navy helicopters rescued 20 persons on board a listing merchant ship off Vasai coast in neighbouring Palghar district on Monday.

"While 19 were airlifted and brought to INS Shikra in Mumbai, one more on board the vessel was airlifted by a second Navy chopper," a Defence spokesperson told PTI.

The Navy got a request at 7 AM for immediate evacuation of those on board the ship which was listing precariously, he said.

Late on Sunday night, the distress message said the vessel listed heavily, with 20 persons onboard and requested assistance.

Visuals of Navy rescuing crew members of vessel Jindal Kamakshi. (Source: Indian Navy) pic.twitter.com/uTyp9KQJNV — ANI (@ANI_news) June 22, 2015

"Information was received around midnight by the Indian Navy that a vessel in distress Jindal Kamakshi which was 40 nautical miles from Mumbai harbour and 25 nautical miles off Vasai coast had listed heavily," a Defence spokesperson said.

He further said, the vessel had counter ballasted (flood opposite tank) to improve stability. Condition is currently stable.

"Considering the sea state in the area, we are keeping a close watch on the situation and keeping close to evacuate the vessel should the situation worsen," he added.

Due to inclement weather and choppy seas, ships often get into distress mode resulting in an alarming situation in Mumbai as there have been multiple incidents in the last few years of oil spills, vessels drifting ashore, collisions, etc.

The biggest incident was collision between MV Khalijia III and MSC Chitra that had occurred in August 2010. The aftermath had resulted in closure of Mumbai harbour as well as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Mumbai Port Trust. Moreover, the containers had drifted as far as Uran apart from the oil spill.

The oil spill damaged the environment that was estimated by NEERI to be to the tune of Rs5,149.17 million or $358.1 million. NEERI’s report had stated that a total of 46,589 mangrove plants had died due to the spill and 6,27,117 mangrove plants were affected.

(With inputs from Ateeq Shaikh)