A seaman was rescued severely burnt after his boat exploded and caught fire in Marsamxett Harbour yesterday afternoon.

The police said he was in danger of dying but they did not know what caused the fire that broke out at around 4.30 p.m.

The skipper of the catamaran that fished him out of the sea said almost 70 per cent of his body was burnt. Even though he was conscious and talking, he was clearly in pain.

The victim is Brian Felder, a 58-year-old Maltese whose family is British, according to his rescuer Daniel Beyers. An ambulance picked him up from the marina of the Grand Hotel Excelsior, leaving 30 minutes after it arrived on the scene.

Mr Beyers, the South African skipper of Moorings 4000, said Mr Felder's trimaran had just sailed past them and the crew had waved to him as he headed out of the harbour.

Moorings 4000 was on holiday in Malta for a day and was fuelling before heading to Turkey when an explosion was heard and the trimaran caught fire. The man on board jumped off and Moorings 4000 went to the rescue, pulling him out of the water and taking him to land.

Eyewitnesses, who were walking along Valletta's ring road, also heard the explosion and saw the boat burst into flames, followed by billowing black smoke.

A Norwegian tourist, who had just visited the capital city, said the fire got worse and worse.

He said he saw a body floating by the boat, and when it was hauled out of the sea, it seemed motionless. The victim could do nothing to help himself out of the water.

It was not for another 30 minutes that the ambulance showed up and action was taken, the tourist said, adding he was surprised at how slow the process was and that it would have been much faster in Norway, with helicopters flying overhead and rescue boats arriving on the scene immediately.

The burning boat capsized further out and the Civil Protection Department's Garibaldi hosed it down, assisted by an AFM vessel.

CPD director, Peter Cordina, who was on site, said the boat would be taken away by the AFM.