Twelve people have been rescued unharmed after a commercial charter boat based out of Port Douglas has sank off the coast of Papua New Guinea early on Monday morning. 

Crew of the MV Reef Connection, operated by the Port Douglas-based Reef Connections charter company, noticed that water had entered their vessel late on Sunday night. 

The water caused an electrical fire that the crew were unable to control, and a decision was made to abandon the 18-metre vessel around midnight.

It is currently unknown what caused the water to enter the vessel. 

Crew and passengers boarded the MV Reef Connection’s tender and took refuge on nearby Deliverance Island, where they waited until they were rescued by a Thursday Island Water Police vessel.

No-one was harmed in the incident. 

Queensland Police report that the MV Reef Connection sank in seven metres of water but the operators are sending a team either today or on Thursday to check on the status of the vessel. 

Reef Connections operates another, larger vessel, MV The Boss, which is safely docked in the Reef Marina.