A vessel owned by Taiwan’s cargo container shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp caught fire after an explosion occurred in a container on board while the ship was at the busy Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China on Friday.
Yang Ming Marine confirmed the incident and said a preliminary investigation found that the explosion occurred in a container on its vessel, the YM Mobility, which reportedly arrived in Ningbo early on Friday morning after its last call in Shanghai.
“Immediate fire control measures were taken, and the situation is now under control,” Yang Ming Marine said in a statement. “All crew members have safely evacuated.”
Photo: Screen grab from Asia Tech’s X account
The container was loaded with hazardous materials, Yang Ming Marine said, adding that the owner of the goods had declared the container as a reefer used as a substitute for a dry container and did not need plugged-in electricity.
Yang Ming Marine said Huan Ming (Shanghai) International Shipping Agency Co, a subsidiary of Yang Ming Group, has been working with the authorities to manage the situation.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the shipper said.
Yang Ming Marine said the YM Mobility is assigned to service the route between East Asia and the Middle East.
The shipper added that it would provide updates on the vessel’s status, cargo shipment and schedule adjustments when further information becomes available.
The explosion occurred at about 1:40pm on Friday, with shockwaves felt a kilometer away, while the YM Mobility was docked at the port’s Beilun terminal, Chinese media reported.
The container was loaded with materials that were vulnerable to explosions, such as lithium batteries and parabens, and it could take three months to repair the vessel, China Central Television (CCTV) cited authorities as saying.
After docking at Ningbo, the YM Mobility, equipped with 20 crew members, was scheduled to head to Jakarta, Indonesia, CCTV said.
The YM Mobility, built in 2011, is a Liberian flagged vessel with a capacity to transport 6,600 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers, Chinese media said.
TEU is a standard measurement of a cargo ship’s capacity.
The reports also said that the explosion was caused by overheating, and that the container that exploded belonged to South Korean logistics and shipping operators HMM Co.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS