A small fire broke out Thursday in the engine room of a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker docked at the southwestern Swedish port of Gothenburg, but was put out shortly after, a spokeswoman for the port said.

"The fire started in the engine room and was put out by the ship's own fire control system," Cecilia Carlsson told AFP.

The 31 people on board the Aberdeen tanker were evacuated, she said.

Rescue services in Gothenburg had sent a team to the dock after they were alerted to the fire shortly after 1100 GMT. The operation was declared over at around 1300 GMT.

Carlsson said an investigation had started to determine the cause of the fire.