It gave no reason for the blast but said a board of inquiry would investigate.

"The ship's crew responded immediately and quickly brought the situation under control. No major material damage has been reported," the navy said in a statement.

The explosion happened in an internal compartment on board a naval vessel, Ranvir, which had been on operational deployment from the Eastern Naval Command since November and was due to return to base port shortly, the statement said.

(Reporting by Nigam Prusty and Nupur Anand; Editing by Gareth Jones)