25 people killed in commercial ship fire in China

Ship at the port in Qingdao was reportedly undergoing repairs after arriving nearly 2 weeks ago

A large ship is shown docked in a body of water, with smoke around it. — In this photo from video taken Sept. 10, 2026 smoke billows out from a cargo ship that caught fire while docked at a port in the city Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province. (Qingdaowolin/The Associated Press)

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. local time 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.

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

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.

An aerial view of a body of water and a port with ships and piers is shown.

A drone view shows ships and containers at the port in Qingdao, China, in this Oct. 20, 2025 file photo. (China Daily/Reuters)

The vessel arrived at the Qingdao shipyard on Aug. 31 and has remained there since, LSEG data showed.

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. — Thomson Reuters

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