At least five people have been killed and 87 remain unaccounted for after a fire broke out aboard a ferry off the coast of Palawan province in the Philippines.

The vessel, identified as the M/V June Aster, caught fire on Wednesday evening approximately 2.2 kilometres offshore, near the popular tourist destination of Coron. The ferry had departed from Baseco in Manila and was bound for Coron when the blaze erupted.

The Philippine coastguard confirmed the casualties and said 42 to 43 people had been rescued as of Thursday morning. Of those rescued, 38 were passengers and four were crew members.

Coastguard Captain Noemi Cayabyab told a local radio station that the vessel's manifest listed 134 passengers and crew in total -- 117 passengers and 17 crew members, according to a separate account. The discrepancy in the total figure was not immediately explained.

"Based on the data we have right now on rescued and the casualties, we still have 87 people who are unaccounted for," Cayabyab said.

She cautioned that the numbers remained fluid. "Just to make it clear, this is live data and may change, as our search and rescue operations are ongoing," she said.

Cayabyab also noted that authorities had not yet been able to gather information from survivors. "We have not yet been able to obtain information from the rescued individuals because we have not been able to speak with them," she said.

Video shared by the coastguard on social media showed much of the vessel engulfed in flames. Footage also showed responders placing victims in body bags on shore.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. No information on the origin of the blaze was available at the time of reporting.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing, with coastguard teams continuing to work in the waters off Coron.

Sea accidents are considered common in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands regularly battered by monsoon rains and typhoons that can make travel conditions treacherous. Poor vessel maintenance, overcrowding, and inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations have also been cited as factors in past incidents.

In January, a ferry carrying more than 350 people sank off the coast of Baluk-baluk island, killing at least 18.