Fire at Qingdao Shipyard Kills at Least 20 Aboard Cargo Vessel

At least 20 people have died after a fire broke out aboard a foreign cargo vessel undergoing repairs at a state-owned shipyard in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, state media reported on Thursday. Five others remain missing.

The blaze started at around 11:15 a.m. at the Qingdao Beihai shipyard during repair and inspection work, according to state-run Xinhua. Of the 42 people on board at the time, 12 were evacuated safely and five were injured and taken to hospital. The fire was put out by early afternoon.

A photograph of the scene released by Xinhua identified the vessel as the Ocean Melody. Ship-tracking data showed it to be a 20-year-old Liberia-flagged dry bulk carrier managed by Yuyangkunpeng Shanghai Shp Mgm, with Huili Shipping Co Ltd listed as its registered owner. The vessel had arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on August 31 and had remained there since.

President Xi Jinping called for intensified search and rescue efforts, a swift investigation and accountability measures, Xinhua reported.

The shipyard is controlled by the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), one of the world's largest shipbuilders. CSSC describes itself as China's principal naval shipbuilder and the country's largest designer and builder of ships and offshore equipment. A 2022 recruitment notice on the website of the CSSC-owned Qingdao unit said the shipyard had an annual shipbuilding capacity of 3 million deadweight tons and could repair 212 vessels a year.