A fire that broke out broke out on Sunday night, 12 February, in a forward container of a Liberian flagged ship south-west off Cape St Francis on Sunday night, was finally extinguished yesterday afternoon, 13 February.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said yesterday a major fire had broken out aboard the vessel, M/V APL Austria, which had 21 crew members on board.
According to an NSRI release,Port Elizabeth. NSRI PE and NSRI St Francis Bay volunteer duty crew were on alert following reports of the fire on board.
The crew members fought the fire on board the container ship, while it made its way to Port of Ngqura,
At 12.43 am yesterday NSRI PE duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Eikos Rescuer IV and met up with the M/V APL Austria off-shore of the Ngqura Port. The NSRI stood-by on-scene for safety while crew of the APL Austria continued to fight the fire on board.
During the early hours of yesterday morning fire fighting tug boats arrived to assist in fighting the fire. Authorities and a fire fighting team boarded the ship where efforts to fight the fire continued.
Four non-essential crew were taken off the ship and transported aboard the sea rescue craft into Port of Ngqura. 
One of the four evacuees was treated by EC Government Health EMS paramedics for a leg injury and he is now in a stable and satisfactory condition. The other three evacuees were uninjured. There are no reports of injuries sustained to any of the remaining 17 crew on board.
NSRI Port Elizabeth were released from the scene yesterday afternoon but remained alert to assist if needed. The Nelson Mandela Bay Fire and Rescue Services were on stand-by to assist.
The cause of the fire and the extent of damage to the containers is unknown at this stage. Investigations are continuing.
Photos by NSRI PE show the ship during the early hours of yesterday morning off-shore of Port Elizabeth.
