One Dead, Seven Injured in Fire at DSME’s Okpo Yard

A shipyard worker was killed and seven were injured in a fire that broke out at a Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s (DSME) yard in Okpo, South Korea, Yonhap news agency said.

As informed, the man suffocated from poisonous gas that gushed from the fire that started in a tank of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier. The unidentified 85,000-ton LPG vessel is reported to be under construction at the yard.

There were 130 people at the site when the fire broke out and initial reports indicate that out of the seven injured workers, one is in critical condition.

It took almost an hour for the firefighters to contain the fire. The extent of damage to the vessel is yet to be reported.

This is the second fatal incident that struck DSME in less than three months. Namely, as World Maritime News reported, two workers died and seven were injured in a fire that broke out in a dry dock 8 at DSME’s Okpo Shipyard in Geoje, on August 24.

The fire reportedly started while the workers were welding inside a hull of an LPG carrier, and apparently spread to one more newbuilding.

BW Group, Dorian LPG and Shandong Shipping have LPG carriers on order at DSME.

World Maritime News Staff