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Large Freighter Ship On Fire Near Ameland With Nearly 3,000 Cars On Board
A large freighter with almost 3,000 cars on board drifts burning north of Ameland In Holland. One crew member died, and the rest got off the ship alive.
A crew member died due to a fire on the freighter Fremantle Highway about 27 kilometers north of Ameland. Several people were also injured, the Coast Guard reports. The survivors have all been disembarked and taken care of. The ship is currently drifting adrift and is still on fire, the Coast Guard said. There are 2,857 cars on board, 25 of which are electric cars. The fire was probably caused by one of those EVs, it was reported on Wednesday morning. The report came to the emergency services around midnight.
The ship, which was en route from Bremerhaven to Port Said in Egypt, had 23 crew members. The crew attempted to extinguish the fire themselves but were unable to do so, according to the Coast Guard. The fire developed very quickly. “The fire continued to spread, prompting an evacuation,” said a Coast Guard spokesman. The spokesperson cannot yet say what caused the one crew member to die. Seven crew members jumped overboard and were picked up by vessels on site. The rest were disembarked by Coast Guard helicopters.
According to the Coast Guard spokesperson, it is difficult to get a fire under control at sea. In addition, extinguishing electric cars is not easy. Efforts are being made to get the fire ‘somewhat’ under control. One of the scenarios is that the ship will sink. According to the spokesman, several salvage vessels are on their way. They must get the situation under control if the cargo ship sinks.
Update 4.30 pm:
The fire on the cargo ship could last for days, as well as possible salvage, a Coast Guard spokesman said. The Coast Guard points to previous fires on cargo ships that lasted a long time, such as in 2021 off Sri Lanka and last year off the Azores. Off the coast of the Portuguese archipelago, a cargo ship with cars on board caught fire in mid-February 2022. Two weeks later it sank due to heavy waves. According to a Coast Guard spokesman, the fire on the Fremantle Highway started on the vehicle deck, but the cause is not yet clear.
