Fire on Bulker Ocean Melody at Qingdao Yard Kills 25 Workers

Twenty-five workers died in a fire aboard the bulk carrier Ocean Melody while the ship was under repair at the Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard, part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The fire began at about 11:15 local time on 10 September with 42 people on board.

Twelve workers were evacuated without injury and five were taken to hospital. Initial accounts put the toll at 20 dead with five unaccounted for; a search after the fire was extinguished recovered five more bodies late the same evening, bringing the total to 25 and leaving everyone who had been aboard accounted for. The fire burned for close to three hours. No cause has been given.

The ship is a 55,742 dwt bulk carrier built in 2006 and registered in Liberia, 190 metres in length, and was acquired by a Chinese owner in 2025. It arrived at Qingdao on 31 August and was undergoing maintenance in a dry dock at the yard. The hull sustained significant damage.

President Xi Jinping called for the authorities to determine the cause promptly and to hold those responsible accountable, and urged regions and departments to draw lessons from the fire and rectify fire hazards of all kinds. The yard is one of the larger dry bulk builders in the China State Shipbuilding Corporation group and also carries out repair and conversion work.

Repair periods concentrate the hazards that shipboard fire regimes are built to separate. Hot work, opened tanks and spaces, temporary power and ventilation, and large numbers of contractors moving through compartments all coincide, while the fixed fire-fighting systems that protect a ship in service are commonly isolated for the duration of the docking. The casualty count in yard fires is therefore driven less by the size of the fire than by how many people are inside the hull when it starts, and 42 were aboard here.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 12 September 2026.