Israeli troops have arrested a stowaway who tried to start a fire on board an MSC boxship off Haifa.

Watch footage of the incident here

The incident occurred on Saturday on the 2,480-teu MSC Canberra (built 1995), the Times of Israel reported.

The ship was anchored off the port at the time after having arrived from Turkey.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that by early afternoon, troops had taken control of the vessel and searched it together with police.