All of the approximately 470 passengers -- mainly British, Indians and Australians -- and 630 crew from the Sun Vista were picked up from lifeboats by passing freighters and Malaysian police and navy vessels.

They were brought into Penang in northern Malaysia this morning, nearly all having lost their money, passports and clothes.

Police said 20 passengers were hospitalised with minor injuries but all passengers and crew were otherwise safe.

``It was a bit scary, especially going into the lifeboats,'' said Janet Roger, a 54-year-old British passenger.

The Sun Vista was sailing through the Straits of Malacca to its base in Singapore from the Thai island of Phuket when fire broke out yesterday afternoon. The passengers and crew abandoned ship in the early evening, local officials said.

The officials said theBahamas-registered vessel sank shortly after midnight.

The Passengers arrived in Penang, about 50 nautical miles to the north, wearing only the T-shirts and shorts they had on when the alert was sounded.

``Images of the Titanic crossed my mind,'' Rogers told AFP as she recuperated in a hotel here.

``Two women, one young and the other an elderly woman, panicked and became hysterical when asked to get into the boats. This made other passengers panic.''

The remaining passengers were mainly from Mauritius, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, Holland, Germany, the United States, Japan, Norway, France, Indonesia, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.

Malaysian authorities are investigating the near-fatal disaster and are questioning the Swedish captain, identified by police as Sven Bertil Harpzell.

The number of people on board the ship was unclear. The Malaysian maritime rescue coordination centre said 1,093 passengers and crew were on board but the Singapore owner put the figure at1,104 -- 472 passengers and 632 crew.