An explosion occurs on a container ship docked at Ningbo port; no causalities reported

This photo taken on Aug 21, 2023 shows containers loaded on the container ship Cosco Shipping Virgo at Meishan port area of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang Province. Photo:Xinhua

An explosion has occurred on a container ship docked at the container terminal in one of the world's busiest ports, Ningbo Zhoushan port, in East China's Zhejiang Province, on Friday afternoon, local port authorities said.

The blast occurred at 13:45 on a transit hazardous material container ship named "YM Mobility," owned by Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, which has docked at the No.2 terminal port of Beilun, as it caught fire, and there have been no causalities reported, according to a statement the Ningbo Port sent to the Global Times on Friday.

The open flames have been extinguished, and the terminal remains unaffected. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation, the statement noted.

The Ningbo Maritime Search and Rescue Center has activated an emergency response plan and dispatched maritime patrol vessel to the scene to enforce security measures, according to local authorities. The center has also sent three firefighting tugboats and land-based firefighting forces to carry out emergency response efforts.

The hazardous material is classified as the Class 5 hazardous materials, which generally include oxidizing substances and organic peroxides. Those materials are prone to exothermic decomposition at high temperatures, and some may even explode under confined conditions, an industry insider told the Global Times on Friday.

Weather forecast shows that the temperature in Beilun district at 15:00 on Friday was 38C.

The industry insider said that these types of goods are generally stored in refrigerated containers during transport to maintain controlled temperatures.

The vessel "YM Mobility" is operated by the shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation. The Global Times learned from industry website shipxy.com that the vessel is 305 meters long and 40 meters wide, and has a capacity of 6,589 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs). It also hangs the flag of Liberia.

The vessel departed from Shanghai port on Wednesday and docked at the Ningbo Beilun terminal on early Friday morning, where it also underwent refueling operations.

Ningbo port is the largest port in the world in terms of the ton of goods it handles each year. In the first half of the year, the port achieved a cargo throughput of 708 million tons.