Submarine fire breaks out at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard, one worker reported missing
Published: 09 Apr. 2026, 17:27
![An image of fire and a firefighter [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/09/eaaa3812-acbf-41ab-868c-5140e7424e53.jpg)
An image of fire and a firefighter [JOONGANG ILBO]
A female worker went missing after a fire broke out in a Korean Navy submarine, ROKS Hong Beom-do, which was undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in Ulsan at afternoon on Thursday.
The blaze reportedly began at around 1:58 p.m. inside the submarine, which was at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Ilsan-dong, Dong- Dong District, Ulsan. The submarine was reported to have been going under repair to optimize its features and performance.
Fire authorities issued a level 1 response at 2:38 p.m. and deployed about 30 units of equipment. The flame was fully contained at around 3:56 p.m.
Fire authorities said the cause of the fire is unknown but began inside the submarine during maintenance, adding that the vessel was not under construction but an already built submarine.
About 40 people were reportedly on board at the time of the fire, and one worker is missing. Despite smoke in the submarine, the search mission is underway.
Fire officials said the missing person is an employee from a subcontractor of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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