A cargo vessel transporting 950 tonnes of rice and 78 tonnes of sugar to Bosaso, Somalia, caught fire on Monday at the Subhash Nagar Jetty in Porbandar, Gujarat.
The ship, MSV Haridarshan, belonging to Jamnagar-based HRM & Sons, was engulfed in flames suspected to have started in the engine room.
Firefighters rescued all 14 crew members, but the blaze, intensified by the inflammable cargo, forced authorities to tow the vessel out to sea to protect nearby ships and the jetty.
The Coast Guard has been alerted as the damaged vessel remains at risk of capsizing, raising ecological concerns of oil spillage similar to the MSC Elsa 3 incident off Kerala earlier this year. An inquiry into the fire has been launched.
