A major fire broke out at 11:55am on 18 July at the Yueyang Chemical Plant’s private terminal. The vessel 'Gantian Yihua 046’ from Jiangxi province was unloading 1,080 tons of the highly flammable solvent cyclohexane when its bow caught fire. The local maritime safety authorities and maritime police immediately sent a rescue team, while the Emergency Response Code was activated at the Yangtze River Administration under the Ministry of Transport, and a deputy director took charge of co-ordinating the rescue efforts.

It took more than two hours to extinguish the fire. No casualties or leakages were reported. An investigation is being carried out to ascertain the cause of the fire.