A Tanzanian-flagged ship is partially buried off the coast of Kish Island in Iran

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said Wednesday that a Tanzanian-flagged ship was partially submerged south of Iran’s Kish Island, and that the incident’s cause was being looked into.

The nine crew members were evacuated from the ship, which was transporting 2,500 tons of white cement, according to an Iranian official quoted by the AFP.

At approximately 13:30 local time, the incident took place. An emergency was declared when the ship started to take on water about two miles south of Kish Island while sailing from Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates to Shuaiba Port in Kuwait.

According to Tasnim, the ship is now severely tilted and in a semi-sunken state.