EV Suspected As Cause Of Cargo Ship Fire That Killed One, Burned 3,000 Cars

The ship was carrying 3,000 cars – 25 of which were electric. Photo: Flying Focus / ANP / AFP (Getty Images)

Vehicle carrying ship the Fremantle Highway has been evacuated in the North Sea after it caught fire with 23 crew and 3,000 cars onboard. The ship, which was sailing off the coast of The Netherlands when the blaze struck, was carrying 25 electric vehicles, one of which is thought to have sparked the fire.

Even EVs Can’t Get A Break From The Heat

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. As Sky News reports:

“The ship, the Fremantle Highway, is a vehicle carrier that was transporting nearly 3,000 cars, 25 of them electric, from the German port of Bremen to Port Said in Egypt.

“An electric car was the suspected source of the blaze, a coastguard spokesperson said. They said the ship was still burning.”

The ship was towed out of shipping lanes earlier today. Photo: Dutch Coast Guard / Handout/Anadolu Agency (Getty Images)

Once crewmembers had been evacuated from the ship, they were taken for medical treatment on the Dutch mainland. Injuries reported included smoke inhalation or other injuries picked up during the evacuation, a coastguard spokesperson told Sky.

Following the evacuation, the Fremantle Highway was towed away from the busy shipping lanes in the North Sea earlier today (July 26). Emergency services remain on the scene of the burning ship, which measures almost 200m long.

The blaze about the Fremantle Highway follows a similar disaster aboard the Felicity Ace cargo ship last year. The ship, which caught fire while crossing the Atlantic Ocean in February 2022, was packed full of luxury cars from the likes of Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini.