1 Crew Member Goes Missing After Container Ship Explosion & Fire At China’s Yangluo Port

A crew member remains missing after an explosion and fire were reported onboard an LNG dual-fuel container ship at the Yangluo Port in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province.

The Hubei Port Group said that the incident happened at around 5:30 am local time on Wednesday when a blast occurred in the aft hold of the locally-owned ship Yi Hang Ming Yuan.

The vessel was manoeuvring toward berth A101 when the incident happened, and many containers fell into the water. Preliminary investigation revealed that 7 empty containers fell overboard.

The terminal’s control centre suspended operations and ordered everyone, along with the ship’s crew, to evacuate to a safe area.

Fire trucks from local agencies arrived at the port to extinguish the container ship fire while port officials ordered a complete shutdown of the premises and instructed everyone to remain vigilant.

Authorities identified the missing individual as one of Yihang Mingyuan’s crew.

The special team is now monitoring the ship and the surrounding area while searching for the crew member. The Wuhan branch of the China Maritime Safety Administration has also begun investigating the incident.