Taiwanese shipping firm Yang Ming Marine Transport confirms cargo ship fire

BEIJING (Reuters) -Taiwanese shipping firm Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp said one of its cargo ships caught fire on Friday at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, one of the world's busiest.

Earlier, Chinese state media said an explosion was reported at the port and shockwaves were felt a kilometre away.

Yang Ming Marine Transport said a fire occurred on board the YM Mobility while it was operating in the port. No casualties or injuries were reported after the blast at around 1:40 p.m. (0540 GMT), China's official Xinhua news agency said.

"At present, immediate fire-fighting measures have been taken at the scene, the fire has been brought under control, and all the ship's personnel have been safely evacuated," the company said in a statement.

The explosion among containers near the bow of the Liberian-flagged vessel sent cargo flying and left a plume of black smoke, footage from China Central Television (CCTV) showed.

The ship, docked at the port's Beilun terminal, was transporting hazardous goods, the Ningbo Maritime Search and Rescue Centre said.

CCTV, citing preliminary findings from authorities, said the goods included lithium batteries and tert-Butyl peroxybenzoate, an organic compound that is flammable and explosive and should not be stored in an environment over 30C (86F).

Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

While the ship's crew and dock workers were safe, some offices located near the dock were hit by shock waves from the blast, state-run Qilu Evening News reported.

"Our windows were damaged, and the ceiling of our canteen collapsed a little," a staffer at a company located about 1 km (half a mile) from the ship told Qilu Evening News.

The massive port in China's eastern Zhejiang province is operated by Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co..

It is also a major port for loading and discharging oil from crude carriers.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Ella Cao, Ethan Wang, Qiaoyi Li and Bernard Orr, additional reporting by Yi-Mou Lee and Faith Hung; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, William Maclean, Sharon Singleton and Giles Elgood)