VIDEO: Nearly 500 EVs reportedly aboard burning car carrier

The fire aboard the Fremantle Highway continued to be too intense for salvors to board the vessel —until they were ab;e to make a brief boarding today. [Photograph: Netherlands Coast Guard]

As the fire aboard the car carrier Fremantle Highway continued burning off the Dutch coast, a spokesman for the vessel’s charterer, Japan’s K-Line, is reported as saying that there were there were 3,783 vehicles on board, including 498 battery electric vehicles (EVs). Earlier, reports had indicated that there were 26 EVs on board.

Broadcaster RTL has released an audio clip from early Tuesday evening, when the initial response began. In it, a responder can be heard saying that the fire broke out in the battery of one of the electric vehicles.

The position of the lead response agency, the Netherlands Coast Guard, is that the cause of the fire is still unknown.

“We get a lot of questions about the exact number of (electric) cars on board the Fremantle Highway, the agency says on its live blog on the incident. “Our earlier reports are based on the first numbers we received. The ambiguity arises from various information that is shared later on. Work is underway to collect the information and this will then be shared with the recovery organizations.”

The situation as of this morning was that the tug Fairplay 30 has a towing connection to the ship and is controlling its drift to keep it between shipping lanes.

“The fire is still raging and there is still a lot of smoke,” said the Coast Guard. “However, the intensity of the fire seems to have decreased compared to yesterday. It is not yet safe to bring a salvage team aboard the ship.”

So as to prevent an unnecessary amount of water from entering the ship and endangering its stability, it is no longer being constantly cooled.

UPDATE: SALVORS BOARD VESSEL

In the course of the morning, after measurements by the recovery companies, it turned out that the temperature on board the Fremantle Highway had dropped sharply, the Coast Guard said in a later post. The fire is still raging but decreasing. The smoke also decreases.

This decrease in temperature created a safer situation for the salvors to board. The recovery crews boarded the Fremantle Highway via the Multrasalvor 4.

The recovery companies succeeded in establishing a new, more robust towing connection via the top of the ship. This makes it easier to move the ship and keep it under control. The salvors did not stay on board the Fremantle Highway but returned to the salvage vessels. The towing connection is with Fairplay 30.

Rijkswaterstaat is looking at various scenarios to determine the next steps.

The Coast Guard also released new footage from an overflight today.

The Fremantle Highway is currently located 23 kilometers north of Terschelling, between the shipping routes.

Meantime, the incident can only increase concerns about the fire hazards of carrying EVs that have long been expressed by insurers such as Allianz.