Automotive News Europe — 2023-08-04
Maritime and Ports
Japanese ship leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, owner of the car carrier Fremantle Highway that caught fire off the Dutch coast last week, said on 4 August 2023 that it will investigate the cause of the incident in cooperation with relevant parties.
The blaze broke out on 26 July 2023 as the Panama-registered ship was travelling from Germany to Egypt with more than 3,000 vehicles on board, killing one crew member and injuring seven others who jumped overboard to escape the flames.
Local officials said the carrier arrived at the northern Dutch port of Eemshaven for salvage on 3 August 2023.
An investigation has been launched by the Panama Maritime Authority, and the Netherlands was expected to assist the inquiry, a Dutch Safety Board spokesman said.
Shoei said in a statement that all 22 people who were hospitalized due to the incident, including the captain, had been discharged from the hospital by Thursday.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, or "K" Line, the Japanese shipping company that had chartered the Fremantle Highway, also said on Friday that the vessel's owner would investigate the extent of damage and cause of the accident in cooperation with the authorities.
"K" Line has said there were 3,783 vehicles on board the ship, including 498 battery-electric vehicles.
Among the ship’s cargo are several hundred BMW cars, as well as about 300 Mercedes-Benz vehicles, representatives for the companies have said. BMW's Rolls-Royce said it also has a small number of its cars aboard the ship.
An emergency responder was heard in a recording released by Dutch broadcaster RTL as saying "the fire started in the battery of an electric car." Authorities have not confirmed whether that is the case, however.
Fire started on decks with cars
The fire started in the upper decks where some cars were stored, according to the chief executive of the company handling salvage operations.
"The fire started in some of the top decks. We assume the eighth deck, that's in a very poor state. Part of it is completely collapsed and it's heavily, heavily destructed,” Peter A M Berdowski, CEO of Royal Boskalis Westminster, told Bloomberg.
The Dutch company provides dredging, towage and salvage services.
Some of the ship's decks remain intact with cars located there undamaged, Berdowski said.
"We don’t know what the source was of the fire," Berdowski said.
"Having said that, I think all experts with any knowledge on this topic agree that the transportation of electric vehicles introduces additional risks," he said.
Berdowski expects it will take a "couple of weeks" to unload a large part of the cargo at the Eemshaven port. After that, the vessel will likely be moved to either a yard for repair or to be decommissioned, he said.