A fuel tanker ship burned out of control Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico and started to leak, setting the water on fire, authorities said.

The state-owned Pemex ship has been on fire for 24 hours just off the eastern port city of Veracruz.

The 31-member crew has been safely evacuated.

The vessel was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline.

Pemex, navy and other crews worked to put out the flames.

"You can see fire on the water, and that is a sign that the fuel is leaking," said Antonio Chedraui, a navy firefighting official.

It took four hours to get special fire-retardant foam to the site of the fire, and Pemex was also slow in setting up floating containment barriers to prevent the spill from spreading, he added.