Images shared on Chinese social media website Weibo and later carried by state news outlets showed smoke rising from the vessel YM Mobility moments before the explosion near its bow at around 1:40 p.m. local time.Zhejiang's maritime safety authority said no casualties were reported among the dock workers and ship crew. Local media reports said the shock wave from the blast was felt over half a mile away, with witnesses saying the blast shattered nearby office windows.
State news agencies, citing preliminary findings, said one of the containers on board the ship had caught fire, although the cause was still being investigated.
Yang Ming Marine Transport has not commented publicly on the incident and could not be reached for comment before publication.
Authorities said the vessel was carrying Class 5 hazardous goods, without giving further details. Chinese regulations on air and sea freight list oxidizing substances and organic peroxides in this category.
Ningbo Zhoushan Port, on the East China Sea, is among the busiest in the world for international trade and handles Chinese crude oil imports. Over 1 billion tons of cargo pass through the port each year, worth upward of $1 trillion, according to annual estimates.
The port also serves the Yangtze River Delta including China's major eastern hub of Shanghai.
The YM Mobility is 1,000 feet long and 130 feet wide, with a capacity of 81,000 deadweight tGPS data captured by the MarineTraffic website showed a number of rescue tugs positioned near the damaged container ship in the hours after the explosion.
The YM Mobility berthed in Shanghai on Wednesday before arriving in Ningbo on August 8, according to ship-tracking records. It was due to make two more port calls along China's east coast before departing for the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
China's Maritime Safety Administration did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.ons. Shipping records suggest it carries goods between China and the Middle East.
Videos captured a large fireball and plumes of dark smoke rising into the sky. Debris, including suspected container goods, was seen scattered across the nearby pier at Beilun terminal, one of several at the port in China's eastern Zhejiang province.A container ship docked at a port in eastern China was rocked by a "powerful explosion," according to Chinese state media reports. The blast, which occurred on the bow of the YM Mobility at Ningbo-Zhoushan port in Zhejiang province, sent flames and debris soaring into the air.
