Emergency responders to a large fire which has been blazing for almost a week on a car carrier off the Dutch coast say this is likely to have been caused by an electric car on board.
Initial reports put the number of electric vehicles on the Fremantle Highway carrier at 25. It has since been confirmed that of the total 3,783 vehicles, 498 are battery-electric cars.
The official cause of the fire has yet to be identified, but an emergency reporter quoted in Reuters was heard in a recording released by Dutch broadcaster RTL saying:
The fire started in the battery of an electric car.
An investigation into the cause is underway.
Studies suggest that fires in electric vehicles are less common than in those with combustion engines. That said, electric vehicle fires burn hotter than gas fires and can be more difficult to extinguish.
The ship, whose fire is finally becoming less intense, is situated near the World Heritage-listed Wadden Sea, prompting fears of damage through pollution. German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, quoted in DW News, said “a totally normal car transport by sea could turn into an environmental catastrophe of unknown proportions … This fills me with deep concern.”
Austria’s Exxpress newspaper has also reported that given the carrier has 1.6 million litres of heavy fuel oil and 200,000 litres of marine diesel, “the entire region is threatened with an environmental catastrophe.”
The fire resulted in the death of an Indian crewmember as well as the injury of seven others who jumped overboard to avoid the flames.
Charter company K Line would not reveal which brands were aboard the carrier.
