By; Nana Karikari, Senior Global Affairs Correspondent
At least 20 people were killed and five are missing following a deadly fire that erupted Thursday aboard a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at a major shipyard in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao.
The vessel was undergoing maintenance at the Beihai Shipbuilding Co. facility when the fire broke out. The ship is the Ocean Melody, a 190-meter carrier sailing under a Liberian flag. It had arrived at the port on August 31.
A total of 42 people were on board when the emergency occurred. 17 crew members were safely evacuated from the vessel. 5 injured survivors were transported to a local hospital, where they remain in stable condition.
The fire started at approximately 11 a.m. local time. Firefighters and emergency crews battled the flames for more than 3 hours. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the fire was successfully extinguished by 2:30 p.m.
An eyewitness told the AFP news agency there was thick smoke rising from the ship. Photos released by state media confirmed the extensive scale of the blaze and the heavy smoke billowing from the docked carrier.
Top Leaders Respond to Tragedy
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued urgent directives following the incident. He called for “all out” search and rescue efforts to locate the missing crew members. Premier Li Qiang echoed these demands. He emphasized the critical need for those trapped to be rescued while stressing the need to “prevent secondary disasters.”
Maritime Safety Under Scrutiny
This maritime disaster occurs less than a month after a separate industrial accident in China. A shipyard explosion in the southeastern province of Fujian recently killed 1 rescue worker and injured 12 others. The latest tragedy at the Qingdao port places renewed scrutiny on shipyard safety regulations and maintenance protocols across the region’s busy maritime hubs.
As international regulatory bodies and independent maritime investigators begin probing the disaster’s root causes, the tragedy underscores the complex safety challenges facing heavy industrial repair facilities and underscores the persistent vulnerability of docked commercial fleets worldwide.
