Smoke rises from a cargo ship in a Chinese port, after it was reported to have caught fire during repairs, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, September 10, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Social Media/via REUTERS
BEIJING, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Twenty-five people died in a fire aboard a foreign cargo vessel undergoing repairs at a state-owned shipyard in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao on Thursday, state media reported.
The fire broke out at about 11:15 a.m. (0315 GMT) at the Qingdao Beihai shipyard during repair and inspection works, state-run Xinhua said. Of the 42 people onboard, 12 were evacuated safely and five were injured and hospitalized.
The blaze was extinguished by early afternoon, state media said.
A picture of the scene released by Xinhua showed the vessel involved to be the Ocean Melody. LSEG ship-tracking data identified 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 vessel arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on August 31 and has remained there since, LSEG data showed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had called for intensified search and rescue efforts, a swift investigation and accountability measures, Xinhua reported.
The shipyard is controlled by 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 CSSC-owned Qingdao unit’s website said the shipyard had annual shipbuilding capacity of 3 million deadweight tons and could repair 212 vessels a year.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom;Editing by Ros Russell)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
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