MALE: An Indian national has gone missing after falling overboard from a cargo vessel near the Maldives, according to a media report on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday when the crew member of the Indian-flagged vessel MSV Daulah fell into the sea about one kilometre north of Vilimale, news portal sun.mv reported.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) said it received information about the incident at around 11:35 pm, and the Coastguard’s Second Squadron under the Male’ Area Command immediately began search efforts.

As of 7:22 am (local time) on Tuesday, about eight hours after the fall, both sea and air operations had failed to locate the missing individual, the report said, quoting MNDF.

The search operation is underway.