A Nicaraguan Navy vessel on a mission to rescue coastal residents as Hurricane Rina churns in the western Caribbean has gone missing with 27 people on board, a navy spokesman said Monday.

The ship went missing on Sunday, one of three that set out to help evacuate indigenous Miskito residents from Sandy Bay, a coastal town north of the provincial capital Bilwi, spokesman Roger Gonzalez said.

Government spokeswoman and First Lady Rosario Murillo said: "We are asking the Lord to help us save the lives of these people... and for them to get into port safely."

President Daniel Ortega at the weekend had declared the Caribbean coast on alert and ordered hundreds of people in flood-prone areas to be evacuated as the storm gained force.

The storm, however, is now moving away from Nicaragua.

"Thank God, it is moving away but there are still remnants on the Caribbean coast and we should get some rain," Murillo added.

Driving rains have drenched Nicaragua for the past 12 days leaving 16 people dead, and an estimated 150,000 homeless or evacuated.