On 12th August, a series of explosions occurred at a container storage station located at the port of Tianjin, claiming 173 lives and injuring near to 800 people. One of YCH Tianjin’s facilities located approximately five kilometres away from the blast was affected, sustaining some physical damage.

The Business Continuity Plan was activated within an hour of the blast which occurred near midnight. Follow-up contingencies were developed through the night for immediate action at daybreak. Mr. Roger Yap, Deputy CEO of China, and several key staff were immediately on-site and confirmed that YCH sustained no casualty to employee and no loss of cargo.

Immediate recovery actions were undertaken, such as the removal of all loose pipes, dangling ceiling boards, shattered glasses from the windows and damaged lighting to prevent further danger to all staff. Staffs at the affected facility were redeployed to another facility. Corporate HQ also provided daily updates of the situation to all relevant stakeholders.

Further safety measures such as the installation of protection netting and canvas was done to further protect staff from falling debris caused by the explosions. All windows were sealed with canvas and additional fire extinguishers were employed onsite in case of any emergency.