The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) says nobody was injured when a boat caught fire off the coast of Gansbaai on Sunday. However, the incident has prompted for safety inspections to be conducted on all commercial vessels in South Africa.

SAMSA says the fire broke out aboard the 62-year-old Sea Harvest fishing vessel, MVF Armana, in the early morning hours on Sunday. It says the vessel was approximately 60 nautical miles off Gansbaai.

Contrary to initial reports suggesting the vessel was sinking, SAMSA’s Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre revealed that the crew had abandoned the vessel due to the fire.

All 20 crew members who were on board were rescued, and unharmed. They are making their way to Cape Town, and are expected to arrive on Monday evening.

“[They] are on their way back to Cape Town aboard the MFV Ludwani – another of the Sea Harvest Group’s vessels that was in the area at the time of the call. She is estimated to arrive at 20:00… [They] will be met by SAMSA on arrival,” read the statement by the South African Maritime Safety Authority.

SAMSA says it has informed the families of the rescued crew, and are being updated regularly by the company.

The MVF Armana is still adrift, and is being monitored by the MFV Harvest Saldanha.

“SAMSA have instructed the owner to secure the services of a tug to tow the stricken vessel to a safe place of refuge and to appoint a salvor.”

Meanwhile, SAMSA’s Incident Management Team is coordinating with all relevant parties on the incident.

In light of this, Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, ordered urgent safety inspections of all commercial fishing vessels operating in South African waters.

Creecy expressed concern over the increasing number of incidents at sea, highlighting that five significant accidents this year have resulted in the loss of 18 lives.

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She instructed SAMSA board chair, Fakir Mahesh, to take immediate action in this regard, to improve the safety of the fishing fleet in the country.

“SAMSA has also been instructed to develop a fishing vessel safety improvement plan aimed at preventing future incidents and ensuring that vessels operating in our waters meet the highest safety standards. The safety of maritime workers is a matter of national priority,” Creecy noted.

She also confirmed that SAMSA is also investigating the MVF Armana fire to determine its cause and whether any safety regulations were breached.