A fire aboard a cargo ship docked for maintenance at a major Chinese port has killed 25 people, state media reported. The ship, identified as the Ocean Melody, is a 190-metre (623ft) bulk carrier sailing under the Liberian flag, and was moored in Qingdao. Qingdao is one of China’s major international maritime hubs, with links to more than 700 ports across more than 180 countries and regions.
The blaze broke out on Thursday at around 11.15am local time on the bulk carrier, which was moored at the Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard in Shandong province, according to China Central Television (CCTV) and state news agency Xinhua. There were 42 people on board when the fire started.
Seventeen were evacuated, five of whom were injured, while 25 were found with “no signs of life”, CCTV reported. The broadcaster reported that the open flames had been extinguished at around 2.30pm local time, more than three hours after the fire began. Xinhua said the vessel had caught fire during a scheduled port call for maintenance, but gave no indication of what caused the blaze.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for urgent search and rescue efforts and demanded that those responsible be held to account, Xinhua reported. He also called on authorities to learn “profound lessons” from the incident and to carry out thorough investigations and checks for fire hazards.
Images released by Xinhua showed a large vessel docked at a shipyard, with several fire engines positioned alongside it as firefighters tackled the blaze. The deadly blaze comes amid renewed scrutiny of industrial safety in China, where major workplace accidents have continued to claim lives.
In August, an explosion followed by a fire at a shipyard in Fujian province killed a fire and rescue worker and injured 12 others.