The incident happened on Friday afternoon and one sailor, a Philippine national, has been reported dead, while the fire is still raging.
The container vessel had 21 crew comprising Filipino, Ukrainian and Montenegrin nationals.
The vessel was going from India’s Mundra Port to the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka with International Maritime Dangerous Goods cargo.
The fire began in the forward section of the vessel due to a short circuit and then spread to the deck causing containers to burst.
Given the rough weather and threat to lives, the vessel owners have been told to arrange a tug to control the drift and tow the ship if needed.