Vehicle carrying ship the Fremantle Highway has been evacuated in the North Sea after it caught fire with 23 crew
and more than 3,000 cars onboard. The ship, which was sailing off
the coast of The Netherlands when the blaze struck, was carrying almost 500 electric vehicles, one of which is thought to have sparked the fire.
First reported by Sky News in the UK, the vehicle carrier was evacuated at sea after crews couldn’t get the fire under control. Boats and helicopters were called in to evacuate the 23 crew members, but one person has so far died as a result of the fire.
At the time of the fire, the ship was sailing 17 miles north of the island of Ameland, in The Netherlands, which is around 110 miles from the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. It has since been towed to safety, and more details have emerged about the cargo onboard the ship, as Automotive News Europe reports:
“There were 3,783 vehicles on board, including 498 battery electric vehicles, said a Tokyo-based spokesperson for K Line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha), which had chartered the vessel.
“He declined to say anything about the car brands, including whether or not it included any cars from Japanese manufacturers.