Two firefighters have died after battling flames that broke out on a cargo ship docked at Port Newark in New Jersey.

A desperate search was launched overnight to find the two firefighters after they had gone unaccounted for on the enflamed Grande Costa D’Avorio ship.

It is believed they had been trapped on the ship when they suffered the fatal injuries.

They had been battling the flames on the 11th and 12th deck of the cargo ship where around half-a-dozen cars were on fire.

Following a search for the firefighters, they were located and pronounced dead. 

As the flames initially broke out, Port Authority officers reportedly responded to the scene at around 9.30 on Wednesday evening.

Fire services units were called to extinguish the flames where multiple vehicles were on fire.

Personnel from Bayonne, Jersey City, Elizabeth, and FDNY had all been dispatched to the enflamed ship carrying around 5,000 cars. 

Smoke and flames billowed from the ship, clearly visible from around the port.

The fire was reportedly knocked down at around 11.30pm last night.

After two firefighters went unaccounted for, a search was launched where they were later pronounced dead.

‘Members made an attempt to extinguish the fire but got pushed back by the intense heat,’ Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson told ABC7 New York.

‘Two firefighters were lost while conducting this action of backing out of the structure.’

File image of a ship ocked at the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, New Jersey, where the Grande Costa D’Avorio had a fire on board

The US Coast Guard has confirmed that all remaining crewmembers have been accounted for. 

The Grimaldi Group, an Italian company based in Napoli, confirmed early on Wednesday that it owns the ship. The company has some 130 vessels and 17,000 employees, and describes itself on its website as Italy’s largest ship-owning group.

It is not yet clear how the fire started or how many people were on the ship at the time.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest container port on the East Coast, and the second largest in the U.S.