Dramatic footage shows 37 people being rescued after a ferry caught fire on the Hudson River.

Shortly before 5pm on Tuesday (27) a NY Waterways public transit boat caught fire while navigating choppy waters near Jersey City.

The video shows thick black smoke bellowing out of the boat while it was evacuated.

A passerby who was on a nearby boat said he saw the flames and the boat started to "shake"."

They sailed close to the boat to inspect the situation when another boat helped passengers to safety.

The evacuation took 10 minutes before the boat on fire was towed away.

A passerby, who filmed the footage, said: "I was on a boat with a few colleagues cruising along the river."

"I saw the smoke coming from the boat - it was so scary."

"The water was very choppy and there were a lot of boats passing which made the situation worse."