Nine South Korean fishing boats have been gutted by fire at a port in Jeju island in South Korea causing about US$5 million worth of damage.
The boats were all docked at the port for safety in case typhoon Malou hit, and the fire spread quickly between the boats due to the strong wind.
16 fire engines and around 300 firemen rushed to the port to put out the blazes but as the boats were made out of FRP (fibre reinforced plastics), which easily catches fire, the operation was difficult.
Typhoon Malou, a Mandarin word meaning "agate" in English, is the third to reach South Korea within a month.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), at 2:00pm (5:00am GMT) it was moving northeastward at a speed of 41 km per hour, 90 km southeast of the South Korean city of Busan.
The storm was first expected to hit the Korean Peninsula, but changed its direction to the east and moved along the sea off the southern coast.
Due to its route change, the damage in South Korea was less than expected and KMA removed typhoon warnings for southern coast in the afternoon.
APTN