HALIFAX — A Canadian navy frigate continued to help the crew of a disabled merchant ship in the mid-Atlantic on Friday as they waited for assistance from a tugboat.

HMCS Toronto took 13 crew members off the 176-metre Sea Venus, which was stricken by a fire in the engine room, said operations specialist Dennis Kemano of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The remaining 10 crew were still on board the Panamanian-flagged merchant vessel, roughly 1,900 kilometres east of Cape Cod, Kemano said in an interview from Portsmouth, Va.

Kemano said all 23 crew members would be taken aboard a commercial ship in the area later Friday to wait for the tugboat.

"The tug is not due to arrive for another three days,'' said Kemano. "When it does, it will tow the vessel into the nearest port.

"Haven't determined what that port will be -- likely could be Halifax.''

Toronto began keeping watch over the Sea Venus on Thursday following the fire that left the vessel without power and adrift.

Earlier reports said one person was injured before the fire was put out, but Kemano said Friday he wasn't aware of any.

"No injuries, and the fire is out.''

On Thursday, Cmdr. Alex Grant of HMCS Toronto said his vessel arrived at the scene after receiving the merchant ship's location from an Aurora long-range patrol aircraft based at Greenwood, N.S.

The rescue was being co-ordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard in Portsmouth, but Grant's vessel had been leading the operation at sea.

The Sea Venus, a car-carrying vessel, was en route from Rhode Island to Belgium when the fire broke out.

The Toronto, with a crew of 200, was conducting a fisheries patrol when it was diverted, travelling 275 kilometres to reach the crippled ship.