Images released by the coastguard showed the burning ship on Wednesday
Electric car 'sets huge cargo ship on fire in North Sea': One sailor dead and 23 evacuated from burning 18,500-tonne container ship carrying 3,000 cars
- Cargo ship was sailing from Germany to Egypt when an electric car caught fire
- Crew attempted to put the flames out themselves, with at least one being killed
At least one crew member died and several others were injured overnight after a fire broke out on a huge car carrier ship off the Dutch coast, the coastguard said, with the cause being an electric vehicle catching fire.
Rescue helicopters and boats evacuated 23 crew members from the Panamanian-registered Fremantle Highway, a 18,500-tonne car-carrying vessel with almost 3,000 vehicles on-board. Officials have said there are 'many' wounded. Some suffered broken bones, burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospitals in the northern Netherlands, emergency officials said.
At least seven crew members jumped overboard and were rescued from the water, while the rest were airlifted by helicopter. All the crew were Indian.
As of midday, the ship was said to be burning out of control in the North Sea and rescue vessels were working to save it from sinking close to one of the world's most important migratory bird habitats.
'Around midnight the Coast Guard received a report that the Fremantle Highway is on fire,' the Dutch coastguard said. 'The crew tried to put out the fire themselves, but failed. Unfortunately one person died and several others were injured.
The coastguard said that the incident happened about 17 miles (14.5 nautical miles) north of the northern island of Ameland. Images taken from shore showed a long plume of grey smoke drifting over the sea from the stricken 650-foot ship.
Currently there are a lot of vessels on scene to monitor the situation and to see how to get the fire under control,' coast guard spokeswoman Lea Versteeg told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
'But it's all depending on weather and the damage to the vessel, so we're currently working out how we can make sure that... the least bad situation is going to happen.'
Asked if it is possible the ship could sink, Ms Versteeg said: 'It's a scenario we're taking into account and we're preparing for all scenarios.'
Early this afternoon, two ships were alongside the freighter hosing down its sides in an attempt to cool them, the coast guard said, but firefighters were still unable to attempt to extinguish flames on the ship and smoke was billowing out of its hold.
The Fremantle Highway (shown on fire) is a 18,500-tonne car-carrying vessel which had almost 3,000 vehicles on-board when it caught fire overnight
Rescue vessels are seen spraying water on the Fremantle Highway that caught fire overnight
At least seven crew members jumped overboard and were rescued from the water, while the rest were airlifted by helicopter
At least one crew member died and several others were injured after the fire on the car carrier ship off the Dutch coast early Wednesday, the coastguard said
Rescue helicopters and boats evacuated 23 crew members from the Panamanian-registered car-carrying vessel, with officials saying 'many' are wounded
Images taken from shore showed a long plume of grey smoke drifting over the sea from the stricken 650-foot ship
All crew were evacuated to the nearby Dutch port of Lauwersoog after failing to extinguish the blaze on the vast ship bound for Egypt.
Officials added that the Fremantle Highway was still on fire, and that emergency services are still present near the blazing ship. 'The blaze is still raging on board,' the coastguard said, adding that the ship was listing.
Salvage vessels were on the scene trying to put out the blaze and prevent the ship from sinking, the NOS national broadcaster said.
Specialised firefighters were called from Rotterdam, who would be taken to the ship by helicopter. But the fire developed so quickly that it was no longer safe to bring those firefighters on board.
A tug vessel has however managed to attach a cable to the stricken ship to prevent it from drifting and blocking an important sailing route into Germany, the NOS said.
'We are taking into account all scenarios,' a coastguard official told the NOS.
The coastgard said it recieved reports that the ship was on fire at around midnight.
The cargo ship was transporting 2,857 cars from Bremen, Germany to Port Said, Egypt, 25 of which were electric cars. It was one of the electric cars that caught fire, a spokesperson for the coastguard told Reuters.
'Currently there are a lot of vessels on scene to monitor the situation and to see how to get the fire under control,' coast guard spokesperson Lea Versteeg said.
'It's carrying cars, 2,857 of which 25 are electrical cars, which made the fire even more difficult. It's not easy to keep that kind of fire under control and even in such a vessel it's not easy,' he added.
The ship's Japanese owner, Shoei Kisen Kaisha, said it was working in cooperation with the local authorities of the Netherlands, a salvage company and a ship management company.
'We will keep on endeavouring to extinguish the fire and recover the situation as soon as possible,' the company said. 'There is no information on oil pollution due to this incident as of now.'
The company expressed 'sincere condolence' for the death of the crew member. It is not yet known how they lost their life.
Images taken from shore showed a long plume of grey smoke drifting over the sea from the stricken ship.
One towing ship managed to establish a connection with the freighter to hold it in place.
Ms Versteeg went on: 'We hope that the fire will be under control or will die out and that we can get the vessel in a safe location, but it's all uncertain what's going to happen now.'
The coast guard said in a statement that salvage companies and water authorities are 'looking at the best ways to limit the damage as much as possible'.
Authorities in Germany were also on alert, German news agency dpa reported.
Images released by the coastguard showed the burning ship on Wednesday
'We are monitoring the situation,' a spokesman for the German sea disaster command in the northern city of Cuxhaven said adding that they had offered support to the Dutch authorities. He said rescue ships and task forces were ready to help if needed, but that no decision had been made on whether to send them.
The Fremantle Highway is currently close to Ameland, one of four ecologically sensitive Frisian islands, situated in the Waddensee area just north of the Dutch mainland.
Also called the Frisian Islands, the area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a rich diversity of more than 10,000 aquatic and terrestrial species.
This included more than 140 species of fish of which some 20 spent their entire life in the tidal areas along the islands' famous mud flats.
The area also has a large seal and porpoise population.
Should the Fremantle Highway sink, 'it would be a disaster of the highest order,' the daily tabloid De Telegraaf said.
'Currently several parties including salvagers and the Dutch authorities are looking at minimising the damage as much as possible,' the Coast Guard said.
Some 340 containers tumbled off one of the world's largest container ships after a storm in the same area in early 2019, littering kilometres of pristine coastline with plastic and polystyrene.
The most serious incident in recent times off the busy Dutch coast happened in December 2012 when the Bahamian-flagged car carrier Baltic Ice collided with a container ship and sank.
Eleven sailors were killed in that incident.
In 2022, a fire-ravaged US-bound cargo ship that was transporting thousands of supercars including Porsches sunk in the middle of the Atlantic.
The Felicity Ace sank about 250 miles off Portugal's Azores Islands as it was being towed, just 13 days after a fire broke out on board.
The ship was transporting electric and non-electric vehicles, it was reported at the time. Suspicion on lithium batteries used in electric vehicles.
Porsche lost 1,117 cars on the ship, Audi claimed a loss of 1,944 vehicles, Bentley lost 189, Lamborghini lost 85, and Volkswagen lost 561 cars.
Pictured: Two Coast Guard helicopters involved in the rescue operation on the Fremantle Highway ship are at The Hague Airport
All crew were evacuated to the nearby Dutch port of Lauwersoog after failing to extinguish the blaze on the ship bound for Egypt
The ship was also carrying fifteen Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae supercars, with a rough retail price of more than $500,000 each.
And earlier this month, two firefighters died in the US after getting trapped while battling a huge blaze of a cargo ship carrying 5,000 cars to Port Newark.
Responding to the initial blaze, firefighters found five to seven vehicles already on fire when they reached the 10th floor of the cargo ship on July 5.
The blaze quickly extended to the 11th and 12th floors, and as firefighters were pushed back by the intense heat, two of them were lost.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12338705/One-sailor-dead-23-evacuated-burning-18-500-tonne-cargo-ship-carrying-3-000-cars-North-Sea-Holland-electric-vehicle-caught-fire.html
A different cargo ship transporting thousands of electric and non-electric vehicles, burning off the Azores. Suspicion on what started the fire has fallen on lithium batteries used in electric vehicles,
Eager Porsche buyers had tracked the progress of their car's delivery
vessels of the ship's size can carry at least 4,000 vehicles
Italian cargo ship carrying 2000 cars burning off the coasts of French Brittany
sinking in the Bay of Biscay
Friday update: Salvage crews dealing with the ship off the Dutch coast have boarded the vessel for the first time as heat, flames and smoke eased
The fire 'is still raging but decreasing', while the smoke was also decreasing, the coastguard said today
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