Captain killed, two injured after tanker and cargo ship catch fire in Korea

A fire broke out on a chemical tanker and cargo ship, moored next to each other at an anchorage off Yeosu, South Korea on Saturday (16 August), killing a Captain and injuring two others. 

The Yeosu Coast Guard said a fire broke out on the 2,692-dwt tanker and the 24-tonne cargo vessel, at 1.04 am. Authorities did not name the vessels. 

At the time of the accident, the tanker was carrying 2,500 metric tonnes (mt) of hazardous chemical cargo and approximately 100 mt of fuel oil. According to media reports, authorities had not been able to confirm as of Saturday morning whether the chemicals had spilled into the ocean. 

Immediately after the fire broke out, all 18 crew members, including 14 crew members from the tanker and four crew members from the cargo ship were rescued. 

However, the Captain of the cargo ship, a man in his 50s, was later pronounced dead while two Myanmar crew members were injured. One of them, who is in his 30s, was critically injured while the other in his 20s was slightly injured. 

The fire on the smaller ship was extinguished around 3.17am while the firefighting effort on the tanker was completed at 7.45 am. 

Yeosu Coast Guard said it will investigate the cause of the incident and the extent of the damage.

Photo credit: Yeosu Coast Guard
Published: 19 August, 2025