Water cooling of blast-stricken Yang Ming container ship in Ningbo

“As of the time of today’s updated notice, there are no visible flames on board, and cooling efforts with water sprays are ongoing,” the Taiwanese shipping company said in a statement.

The explosion took place in a cargo container on the bow of the vessel at around 1:40pm on 9 August while it was berthed at Ningbo-Zhoushan port. Videos showed smoke billowing from container close to the bow of the vessel shortly before a massive explosion.

Yang Ming said immediate firefighting measures were taken and later six tugboats dispatched to safeguard the vessel and the area. The vessel’s crew and port personnel were reported to be safe following the incident.

In the latest the statement the company said the cause of the incident needed be professionally clarified, in a previous statement it had indicated a container loaded with dangerous goods as a possible a cause.

Updating the situation on Saturday Yang Ming said: “Representatives from P&I Clubs, Classification Societies, and surveyors have been arriving on-site to coordinate with the authorities. Yang Ming’s technical personnel are providing 24/7 on-site support to assess the impact of the fire and the seaworthiness of YM Mobility.”

It said that once the incident was fully resolved it look into the feasibility of vessel repairs, cargo transhipment and schedule adjustment.

Related:Massive blast on Yang Ming container ship in Ningbo

The 6,589 teu, 2011-built YM Mobility is flagged with Liberia and deployed on the company’s Far East – Middle East CGX service.

Ningbo-Zhoushan is the world’s third largest container port handling 33.4 million teu in 2023.