An explosion occurred on the boxship YM Mobility at a container terminal in the Beilun Port area of Zhoushan Port.
The cause of the accident was initially determined to be an explosion of a container on the ship, and there were no reports of casualties.
According to timestamps from surveillance footage videos posted online, the explosion occurred around 1:46 pm on Friday. The video first showed a large amount of smoke coming from the ship followed by a huge blast which started a fire and scattered debris.
A video from a much further distance showed massive clouds of smoke rising after the explosion. The vessel was reportedly berthed at the Ningbo Phase 3 Terminal. Some reports suggest that the cargo that exploded was glycerin.
The Ningbo Maritime Search and Rescue Center has started an emergency plan and assigned patrol boats to the scene. Three fire tugboats and shore-based fire department forces were also deployed.
The YM Mobility is a Liberia-flagged, 2011-built containership owned by Taiwanese carrier Yang Ming. It has a container capacity of 6,589 teu.