Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, the Mexican state-owned oil monopoly, said a transport ship carrying 176 workers caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in one death and two people unaccounted for.

Pemex, as the Mexico City-based oil producer is known, said in a statement the ship, which belongs to an unnamed contract company, was transporting workers from companies Cotemar and MMM to perform jobs on Pemex's offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico when fire broke out in the ship's machine room yesterday at 7:14 p.m. local time.

Pemex said 173 passengers were rescued by five ships in the area. The ship fire follows an Oct. 8 accident in which three Pemex workers died from intoxication while cleaning a gas duct.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey, Mexico, at tblack@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 12, 2007 02:20 EDT