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The »Fremantle Highway« is towed to the port of Eemshaven: »You don't want something like that on the open sea«
Photo: IMAGO/Vincent Jannink / IMAGO/ANP
The freighter »Fremantle Highway«, which was severely damaged by fire, has arrived safely in Eemshaven in the Netherlands. It was pulled by two tugboats and accompanied by other boats and a Coast Guard plane, a dpa reporter reported. German boats were also there.
Just over a week after the outbreak of the fire, the approximately 200-meter-long ship had been towed for hours to the North Sea port at the mouth of the Ems. This avoids the risk of oil contamination for the North Sea and the Wadden Sea.
The freighter had to be brought to a safe port as soon as possible for safety reasons. The ship was intact, the fire extinguished, said a spokesman for the water authority. But there is a risk that flames flared up again. And the ship is badly damaged. "You don't want something like that on the open sea," the spokesman said. The risks of oil leaks from cracks in the steel walls or even capsizing increased. Strong northwesterly winds were forecast for the afternoon.
Did the fire start from an electric car?
Eemshaven is about 64 kilometers from the previous anchorage off the island of Schiermonnikoog. On the opposite side of the Ems estuary lies the East Frisian Emden. The ship is to be unloaded first. Pollutants should be disposed of. The salvage workers suspect that there is not much left of the approximately 3800 new cars on board, including almost 500 electric cars.
The Fremantle Highway was on its way from Bremerhaven to Singapore when a fire broke out. The source of the fire was probably the battery of an electric car. However, this has not yet been confirmed. During the evacuation of the ship, a man had died. The remaining 22 crew members were rescued.
bbr/dpa