An engine fire on a boat fishing the Tuhua reef at Mayor Island resulted in the dispatch of the Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard's TECT Rescue boat.

The outboard engine on a 7.5m trailer boat was extinguished with a fire extinguisher without any injury to the people on board says Tauranga coast guard training officer Donna Bennett.

'What it did though is it burned the electrics so they were unable to use their vessel, so we went out and towed them home,” says Donna.

'Another vessel was out there close by and started towing them towards Tauranga which was really great, and TECT Rescue went and took it over from them, and brought them home.”

The engine caught fire soon after lunch and the boat was towed into the Sulphur Point Marina after 4pm.