Cargo vessel fire at east China shipyard kills 25

Twenty-five people have 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 am (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 hospitalised.

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.

China CSSC Holdings said in a statement that a fire broke out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship during maintenance work at the shipyard of its Qingdao subsidiary.

CSSC said the company and relevant authorities have mobilised resources to address the situation on-site and all related efforts are underway.

It 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 an annual shipbuilding capacity of 3 million deadweight tons and could repair 212 vessels a year.