Fire at Qingdao Shipyard Kills 25 Aboard Foreign Cargo Vessel
Twenty-five workers died when a fire swept through a foreign cargo vessel under repair at a state-owned shipyard in Qingdao, eastern China.
A fire aboard a foreign cargo vessel undergoing repairs at a state-owned shipyard in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao killed 25 people on Thursday, state media reported.
The blaze broke out at about 11:15 a.m. local time (0315 GMT) at the Qingdao Beihai shipyard while repair and inspection work was under way. Of the 42 people on board at the time, 12 were evacuated safely and five were injured and taken to hospital. The fire was brought under control by early afternoon.
A photograph released by state media identified the vessel as the Ocean Melody. Ship-tracking data described it as 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 ship had arrived at the Qingdao yard on August 31 and had remained there since.
President Xi Jinping called for intensified search and rescue efforts, a prompt investigation and accountability measures, according to state media.
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 its largest designer and builder of ships and offshore equipment. A 2022 recruitment notice on the website of the CSSC-owned Qingdao unit said the yard had an annual shipbuilding capacity of 3 million deadweight tons and could repair 212 vessels a year.