Topline
At least one crew member died after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 cars in the North Sea, according to officials, over a year after another ship carrying thousands of vehicles caught fire and sank.
Key Facts
The Indian Embassy in the Netherlands said Wednesday that a fire aboard the “Fremantle Highway” ship—owned by the Japanese ship leasing firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha—killed one crew member and injured 20 others.
The ship was traveling from the German port of Bremerhaven to Singapore before catching fire 17 miles north of the Dutch island of Ameland, according to the Associated Press.
The ship is carrying 2,857 vehicles, according to Bloomberg, though only Mercedes has confirmed whether they had any vehicles on board.
All crew members—including those severely injured and the person who died—were removed from the ship by helicopters and lifeboats, according to the Dutch coast guard.
A spokesperson for the Dutch coast guard suggested the fire began late Tuesday near one of this ship’s 25 electric vehicles and warned the blaze could last several days, according to Reuters.
Edwin Versteeg, a spokesperson for the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works, said the Dutch government is “preparing for all scenarios.”
Crucial Quote
“The fire is most definitely still not controlled,” Versteeg said, adding, “It’s a very hard fire to extinguish, possibly because of the cargo the ship was transporting.”
Key Background
The cargo ship “Felicity Ace” sank last year after it caught fire 220 miles off the coast of Portugal’s Azores Islands. The ship was transporting nearly 4,000 Volkswagen vehicles—including some Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini models, among others—from Germany to Rhode Island, according to Bloomberg. No crew members were injured in the incident, which cost Volkswagen at least $155 million.
Further Reading
Ship Carrying 3,000 Cars Ablaze Off Dutch Coast, Crew Member Dead (Reuters)
A Freighter Carrying Nearly 3,000 Cars Catches Fire In The North Sea And A Crew Member Is Killed (Associated Press)