‘Heavy casualties’ after foreign cargo ship catches fire in China’s Qingdao
Por Cao Jiaxuan,William Zheng — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Accidents and disasters in China China Politics Developing ‘Heavy casualties’ after foreign-flagged cargo ship catches fire in China’s Qingdao
The vessel was docked for repairs, CCTV report says, as President Xi Jinping calls for all-out search and rescue efforts
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Cao Jiaxuan in Beijing and William Zheng in Hong Kong Published: 5:14pm, 10 Sep 2026 Updated: 6:21pm, 10 Sep 2026
A fire broke out on Thursday morning aboard a foreign-flagged cargo ship undergoing repairs in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao, causing heavy casualties, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The blaze started at around 11.15am at the state-owned Qingdao Beihai shipyard, the report said. It did not say how many had been killed or injured.
President Xi Jinping has given orders to step up search and rescue efforts, according to CCTV, a rare instance of instructions from the top leadership accompanying an accident report. Xi also called for a swift investigation into the cause of the fire and to ensure prompt follow-up and victim support, the report said.
All regions and relevant departments must “draw profound lessons from the blaze”, tighten preventive measures and “resolutely curb major accidents to safeguard lives and property”, he was quoted as saying.
A photo released by state news agency Xinhua suggests the ship is the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Melody. According to the MarineTraffic website, the vessel is moored in Qingdao.
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