News / Container explodes on Yang Ming box ship in Chinese port

YM Mobility. Photo: VesselFinder

This post was edited at 10am BST on 12 August to include comment from Yang Ming

A container has exploded today onboard Yang Ming-owned YM Mobility, at a box terminal in the Beilun Port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan.

There are no reports of casualties or injuries to date.

News outlets on Chinese social media platform Weibo said the container held refrigerated organic peroxides, a reactive chemical which is highly combustible and liable to exothermic decomposition, which causes heat that rises as the outside temperature increases.

Some peroxides decompose explosively, particularly if confined, and this can be initiated by heat, contact with impurities, friction or impact.

According to reports, the chemical was rated with a hazard class of 5.2, meaning it requires temperature control or may combust. 

However, Yang Ming said on Friday that “the cause of the incident is still under investigation”.

It added: “Preliminary findings suggest that an explosion occurred in a container loaded with dangerous goods on board. According to the shipper’s declaration, the container was a reefer used as a substitute for a dry container, without requiring power connection.”

Time-stamps from surveillance CCTV posted online put the explosion at around 1:45pm local time. 

Photographs and videos show thick black smoke rising from the front of the vessel’s cargo hold, followed by a fiery explosion which sent debris high into the air. 

According to VesselFinder, YM Mobility is a 13-year-old Liberia-flagged containership with a capacity of 6,589 teu. It has an overall length of 306 metres and a gross tonnage of 76,780.  

The vessel operates on services between the Far East and Middle East and was berthed at the Ningbo Phase 3 Terminal at the time of the incident. 

In June, Yang Ming reminded customers that a cargo misdeclaration fee of $30,000 would be applied on dangerous good shipments, if identified by the Taiwan carrier or third parties. Ot told customers: “Any concealing, omitting, or misdeclaring of…  dangerous goods can have unpredictable and serious consequences, endangering the safety of life and property, causing huge economic losses and even affecting the carrier’s normal operation procedures.  

“To protect the interest of majority law-abiding and stabilization of logistics of the global supply chain, we need your careful concern to provide the complete and correct cargo information,” it urged. 

Port officials are investigating today’s incident.