On Wednesday, A ship off the Dutch coast was burnt in a fire carrying around 3,000 vehicles on board. One member was killed and several injured, the coastguard said.
On Tuesday, the fire began from 199 meter Panama registered Fremantle Highway, linking the route from Germany to Egypt. Dutch broadcaster NOA added, all the crew members were Indian.
For the boat rescue, water was sprayed onto the fire to cool it down but too much water risked the boat shrinking, Dutch coast guard said.
According to the Dutch agency ANP, the fire remained for several days. Smoke continued to billow near the Northern Dutch island of Ameland.
“The fire is most definitely still not controlled. It’s a very hard fire to extinguish, possibly because of the cargo the ship was transporting,” said Edwin Versteeg, a spokesperson for the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works.
The cause of the firing was unknown, but a coastguard had earlier said to the Reuter that it began from an electric car. There were roughly 25 out of 2,857 vehicles that were electric on the ship.
A spokesperson added, The International Maritime Organisation is planning to set regulation and safety for transporting electric vehicles next year to decrease the cases of fires on cargo ships.
“Electric cars burn just as much as combustion engine cars. When batteries overheat and a so-called ‘thermal runaway’ occurs, then it gets dangerous,” said Uwe-Peter Schieder, master mariner and representative of the German Insurance Association.
Nearby 350 vehicles were Mercedes Benz on the boat, the company said.
Several crew members jumped onto the overboard because of the quick fire spread. Some people were injured while one member died in the flame.
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