The generator room of the Navy's 14,000-ton ship caught fire while the ship was sailing off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula Tuesday, causing a duty officer to suffer second-degree burns. Restoration work is currently underway.

A fire broke in the engine room of the Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship which was sailing near the western port of Gunsan around 10:45 a.m.

Crew members immediately put out the fire, but a 23-year-old petty officer first class, who was on duty in the engine room, got second-degree burns in the process of containing the blaze, according to Navy officers.

"Among two generators in the ship, the burned one broke down, and the other stopped after sea water flowed in during the process of extinguishing the fire," a Navy officer said. "The ship currently remains in the same spot. Repair works will continue late into the night."

Named after the easternmost islets of Dokdo in the East Sea, lhe lead ship in its class was built by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in 2005 and commissioned to the South Korean Navy in 2007.

South Korea's largest vessel is 199 meters long, 31 meters wide with a maximum speed of 23 knots.

The ship can accommodate 300 crews members, armed with a close-in weapons system and rolling airframe missile used against anti-ship cruise missiles.

It can carry seven helicopters, six tanks, seven amphibious battle tanks, 10 trucks, three artillery pieces and two amphibious warships. (Yonhap News)