Within 1 year, two vehicle cargo ships have burned down due to electric vehicle batteries starting huge fires
with a total loss,
over 7,000 vehicles lost !
A sinking cargo ship carrying
more than 3,700 cars is still burning at sea, two days after a fire -
which was caused by an electric car -
broke out and killed one crew member.
Salvage crews dealing with the ship off the
Dutch coast have boarded the vessel for the first time as heat, flames and smoke eased.
'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 Netherlands' coastguard said.
Salvage workers boarded the ship, on which the fire 'is still raging but decreasing', while the smoke was also decreasing.
The workers established 'a new, more robust towing connection', the agency added. 'This makes it easier to move the ship and keep it under control.'
Government officials are now 'looking at various scenarios to determine the next steps', the coastguard said.
One crew member died and others were injured after the blaze started.
The entire crew was evacuated from the ship in the early hours of Wednesday, with some leaping into the sea and being picked up by a lifeboat.
The cause of the fire has not been established.
The Fremantle Highway was 14 miles north of the island of Terschelling on Friday afternoon, close to busy North Sea shipping lanes and an internationally renowned migratory bird habitat.
K Line, the company that chartered the ship, said on Friday that it was carrying far more electric vehicles than initially reported by the coastguard.
Company spokesman Pat Adamson said the ship was carrying a
total of 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles.
The US National Transportation Safety Board has
warned about the possible dangers of electric vehicle battery fires, a hazard that stems from
thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that causes uncontrolled battery temperature and pressure increases.
