One of the world's biggest container ships, the Mumbai Maersk, has run aground off an island in the North Sea, Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies and Maersk said on Thursday.

The Mumbai Maersk, a Denmark-flagged ship which is 400 meters long and weighs more than 200,000 tonnes, was traveling between Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the north-western German port city of Bremerhaven when it ran aground off the German island of Wangerooge late on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the maritime emergency command.

A first attempt to tow the ship into deeper water on Thursday morning by two multi-purpose vessels and five tugs failed. The rescue company will deploy a number of additional tugs and make a second attempt around midnight, a spokesperson for the maritime emergency command said.

"They decided not to start an attempt with the afternoon tide because there is not enough water. They will now concentrate on the night tide to start the hopefully successful attempt," the spokesperson said.

Authorities in Wilhelmshaven and Oldenburg said an investigation into the cause of the incident was ongoing. No injuries were reported among the 30 people on board, no fuel leak sighted and the entrance to the port is not obstructed, they said in a statement.