A fire broke out Thursday on a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at a port in Qingdao, killing at least 20 people and leaving five others missing, according to Chinese state media. The incident occurred while the bulk carrier was at a shipyard in the eastern Chinese shipping hub for maintenance. Authorities launched search and rescue operations following the blaze, while the cause of the fire remained under investigation. The vessel had 42 people on board when the fire broke out at around 11:15 am local time, state news agency Xinhua reported. Seventeen people were evacuated from the ship, including five who sustained injuries. Twenty people were later found with “no signs of life”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Five others remained unaccounted for as emergency teams continued searching the vessel and surrounding areas. CCTV reported that firefighters extinguished the open flames at around 2:30 pm local time, about three hours after the blaze was first reported. The fire sent thick smoke into the air around the shipyard and prompted a major emergency response. Xinhua said the vessel belonged to Beihai Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Qingdao and caught fire while it was at the port for maintenance. The agency did not provide details about what may have triggered the incident. The deadly fire prompted a response from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who called for urgent search and rescue efforts, according to Xinhua.

Xi also stressed the need for authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and to “strictly hold those responsible to account”. The statement indicated that authorities would investigate the cause of the fire as part of the broader response to the accident. A witness living in a residential compound near the shipyard told AFP that he noticed thick smoke coming from the vessel. The witness said he did not initially see visible flames and had not heard an explosion. “I saw the smoke from the ship by chance, but there was no visible fire,” he said. He also said he did not hear an explosion or smell anything unusual. His account did not establish how the fire started, and officials had not publicly identified a cause.

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Images released by Xinhua showed a large vessel docked at a shipyard, with several fire engines positioned near the ship. The photographs showed emergency crews responding at the site as smoke rose from the vessel. The incident took place at Qingdao, one of China's major maritime and port centres, where shipbuilding, repairs and commercial shipping operations are carried out. The vessel was identified as the Ocean Melody, a 190-metre-long bulk carrier sailing under the Liberian flag, according to vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic. The ship was listed as moored in Qingdao when the fire occurred. As rescue operations continued, authorities faced the task of accounting for all 42 people who had been on board and determining the circumstances that led to the deaths.

The five injured survivors were among those evacuated, while the remaining missing people were the focus of the continuing search. Further details about the victims, the identities of those missing and the precise cause of the fire were not immediately released by authorities. The incident adds to the risks faced by crews working aboard large commercial vessels, particularly during maintenance and repair operations. Such work can involve multiple activities taking place within confined areas of a ship, although officials had not said whether any specific maintenance activity was linked to Thursday's fire. The authorities' investigation is expected to establish how the blaze began and whether safety procedures were followed. Until those findings are released, the exact circumstances behind the high death toll remain unclear.

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