SEOUL - One person went missing on Thursday after a submarine fire at South Korea's shipyard, according to Yonhap news agency.

The fire broke out on a Navy submarine undergoing maintenance at the shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, some 310 km southeast of the capital Seoul, at about 1:58 pm local time.

The fire authorities issued a first-stage emergency response at 2:38 pm and contained the main blaze at 3:04 pm.

Search operations were underway as one worker in her 60s went missing.

About 40 people were on board the submarine at the time of the incident.