Mangaluru: Seven persons aboard a mini cargo vessel carrying goods from Lakshadweep to Mangaluru were rescued after it developed a technical problem and sank near the port here, police said.

All the seven persons, hailing from Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, were saved by fishermen who saw them staying afloat onwooden boards, seven hours after the ship sank.

The ship, ‘Vijayalakshmi,’ which had set sail from Kiltan in Lakshadweep on January 10 with goods to the city,sank about eight km from its dock here at 4 AM  Monday, and the sailors managed to be afloat for seven hours on wooden planks till the fishermen’s boat sighted them, police said.

Krishnan (37), Karunanidhi (42), Manikyavelu (39), Pannirselvam (59),Muttu (46), Manikantan (26) and Raghuraman (24), could save themselves.