THE China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) has released a report on its findings into the explosion and fire which occurred onboard box ship YM Mobility.
The incident occurred at China’s Ningbo Port in August 2024, when an explosion occurred in a container loaded with dangerous goods close to the ship’s bow.
The CMSA reportedly revealed in the report that the cargo in the reefer container included tert-Butyl peroxybenzoate (TBPB), a compound that has thermal instability and can self-decompose at room temperature, and release large amounts of heat and produce gas or vapour.
According to the shipper’s declaration, the container in question was a reefer unit used as a substitute for a dry container, without requiring power connection.
Economic loss as a result of the incident was estimated to be around CNY90 million (US$13 million).
The container was used to store TBPB despite having poor heat dissipation properties, with the heat generated by the TBPB self-decomposition reaction therefore accumulating in the container.
The continuous increase in temperature accelerated the self-decomposition reaction, which resulted in thermal runaway and the subsequent explosion and fire.
The CMSA also revealed that the incident occurred during a period when summer temperatures in Shanghai where the product was packed, were higher than usual.
From 25 July to 9 August, Shanghai and Ningbo saw high temperatures, with daytime temperature reaching a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius.
The investigation reportedly showed that the operator failed to exercise sufficient care when reviewing the cargo transportation plan.
In particular, the operator failed to conduct a full safety assessment of the stability of the cargo and the risk of thermal runaway with respect to the conditions such as high outside temperatures, self-separation of the cargo, and thermal insulation of the unplugged reefer unit.
The operator reportedly agreed to use the unplugged reefer to transport the dangerous goods and the CMSA says it did not consider the temperature changes in the container during transportation.
The CMSA said it had found no abnormalities in other steps throughout the cargo transportation process.
The investigation reportedly found both the operator and the shipper to responsible for the incident.
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