A Cundy’s Harbor man barely escaped death Saturday morning after his 45-foot fishing boat caught fire and exploded off the coast of Cape Elizabeth.

Kenneth Johnson, reportedly in his 40s, is recovering at Maine Medical Center after being rescued from the ocean by two good Samaritans on a pleasure boat.

According to Kenneth Stuart, Coast Guard Sector Northern New England search and rescue specialist, the captain of a fishing boat, later identified as the Kimberly Marie, made a short distress call to the Coast Guard at about 10:30 a.m., before the explosion.

“He said, ‘Coast Guard, I have an electrical fire,’ and he gave the coordinates,” Stuart said. “That was the last we heard from him.

The Coast Guard sent out an urgent marine broadcast to all mariners in the area to respond if possible, and at about the same time got more than 20 calls from people reporting smoke offshore.

The closest vessel turned out to be an 18-foot pleasure boat with two men on board. They rescued Johnson from the water after his boat exploded.

According to Stuart, Johnson had donned a survival suit just minutes before he was “literally blown off his boat.”

Johnson was transferred to the Portland harbormaster’s vessel and then to a Maine Marine Patrol boat, the fastest in the area, which took him to shore.

Johnson was is stable condition Monday at Maine Medical Center, according to the Coast Guard. No one else was injured.

About one foot of the hull of the Kimberly Marie was still above water and burning off the coast of Cape Elizabeth early Saturday afternoon.

Stuart said the fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical pump.