2023-07-30 17:57:19
It was on the night of July 25 to 26 that the Dutch maritime authorities received the first warning signal from the Fremantle Highway, departed from the port of Bremerhaven in Germany bound for Port Said in Egypt.
The 23 crew members of this freighter loaded with 3,783 new cars then fought with the means at hand against a fire, which probably started from the battery of one of the 500 electric vehicles in the cargo. One of the sailors died in this fight against the flames, others were injured. They are now safe and sound and have been evacuated to the mainland.
Prevent an ecological disaster
Since then, it’s been a race against time 18 kilometers off the Dutch coast, north of the island of Terschelling. A first towing operation allowed the ship to be moved away from the busy maritime route on which it had been stopped since the start of the fire. Now maritime authorities are looking to move the still burning ship east to the island of Schiermonnikoog.
A location that would fit best “to the different scenarios and expected weather conditions”, explain the authorities. The goal? Prevent an ecological disaster when the fire could sink the boat in the middle of the Wadden Sea, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009.
A fragile natural area
This protected natural area of 10,000 km2 is considered “as the world’s largest uninterrupted system of tidal mudflats and sandbanks”, according to the UN body. Straddling the Dutch, Danish and German coasts, the Wadden Sea welcomes some twelve million migratory birds heading south, according to the magazine Geo, as well as important colonies of seals. The sinking of Fremantle Highway would have disastrous consequences on this fragile environment.
A towing operation was scheduled for Saturday July 29, but could not take place due to a strong south-westerly wind which projected the smoke from the less intense but still ongoing fire towards the towing boat. « The towing of Fremantle Highway to the new temporary location may therefore not start for several days,explained on Saturday evening the Dutch National Institute for Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). Until then, the ship will remain in its current position. » Eventually, the ship, built in 2013 and flying the Panamanian flag, will be towed to a port.
While fires from electric cars are no more dangerous than those from combustion engine cars, they are however more difficult to extinguish. It takes more water to overcome it and it happens that the batteries catch fire again several hours or even several days after the fire.
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