Cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 cars catches fire, leaves one dead

A large cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 vehicles caught fire last night off the Dutch coast, killing one crew member and injuring several others. The vessel, named Fremantle Highway, was fully evacuated via other boats and helicopters, but as of now, the Dutch Coast Guard is saying that the fire is still ablaze as emergency workers attempt to put it out.

Reuters reports that about 350 of the vehicles onboard the ship are Mercedes-Benz products. However, it’s still not confirmed what the rest of the vehicles are. Reports say that of the approximately 3,000 vehicles, 25 of them are electric.

The cause of the fire is unclear for now, as various official statements and media reports conflict with each other. The Coast Guard’s official live blog for the incident states “the cause of the fire is still unknown.” Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that a Coast Guard spokesperson told the publication that the fire “began near an electric car.” To add even more confusion to the story, Sky is reporting that a coastguard spokesperson said, “an electric car was the suspected source of the blaze.”

We’ve contacted the Dutch Coast Guard to try and get some answers of our own and will update this post with any additional information.

Regardless of the source of the fire, emergency officials are having a tough time putting it out. 

“It’s carrying cars, 2,857 of which 25 are electrical cars, which made the fire even more difficult. It’s not easy to keep that kind of fire under control and even in such a vessel it’s not easy,” coastguard spokesperson Lea Versteeg said.

The coastguard said the Fremantle, which had departed from the port of Bremerhaven, had been towed out of shipping lanes. It was 17 miles north of Ameland when the fire started.

It spread so quickly that seven crew members jumped overboard, said Willard Molenaar of the Royal Dutch Rescue Company (KNRM), who was among the first at the scene. Coastguard spokesperson Edwin Granneman said salvage experts were trying to work out the next steps for the burning boat.

Shoei Kisen, the Japanese ship leasing company that manages the Fremantle, said it was working with the Dutch authorities to extinguish the fire.

The Fremantle Highway is just one of a few big cargo ships carrying cars to catch fire we've seen as of late. There was the infamous Felicity Ace, the Golden Ray and the Grande Costa d’Avorio that all caught fire in the past few years.

We’ll update this post as more information becomes available.

Material from Reuters and AP was used in this report.