Border Force officers are hunting for a group of suspected asylum seekers after an abandoned boat was found in crocodile country north of Cairns.

It’s unclear how many people were on board, when they came ashore near the Daintree River on Sunday. Eleven people have been detained so far.

Police and border force officers are scouring heavily-forested areas near the river for others, who fled on foot.

AAP has asked authorities if they can confirm media reports that some of those detained are Vietnamese.

Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu says the area is home to a healthy population of saltwater crocodiles, and anyone who may have fled through mangroves could be in danger.

She said the boat was spotted off Cape Kimberley, close to the mouth of the river where people have been taken by crocs in the past.

Camera Icon Authorities on the beach after a suspected asylum seeker boat arrived off the Queensland coast. Credit: Marc McCormack

“We have thriving croc spotting operations all up and down the river,” she told AAP on Monday.

“The unknown thing is did they actually end up going through the mangroves. Hopefully not, but we just don’t know.”

Ms Leu was having lunch at the Daintree store on Sunday when her friend, local tourism operator David Patterson, approached and told her about the boat.

He said he’d seen it himself, and shared reports that people had been seen fleeing on foot after making it to shore.

Camera Icon File photo. Credit: Getty Images

Photos of the boat show it sitting in shallow water, it’s hull on the bottom and part of the deck submerged.

“We saw this boat and didn’t think a lot of it really, then after the radio chatter (we heard) it was deserted and people were seen leaving it,” Mr Patterson told ABC radio.

Authorities have described the boat as an illegal fishing vessel but if those onboard are found to be asylum seekers, it would be the first illegal boat arrival on Australia’s shores since 2014.