One dead in cargo ship fire, electric car suspected source: Dutch coastguard

One person died and several others were hurt when a fire broke out on a cargo ship off the northern tip of Netherlands, with an electric car being the suspected source of the blaze, the Dutch coastguard said on Wednesday.

The Panama-registered Fremantle Highway was transporting 2,857 cars from Germany to Egypt, 25 of them electric.

A coastguard spokesperson said an electric car was suspected to have caused the fire.


The ship was sailing 27 km (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, with 23 crew onboard, when the fire started on Tuesday night, a statement said.

The 199-metre ship, which had departed from the German port of Bermenhaven, was successfully towed out of shipping lanes early on Wednesday, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.

The crew had tried, but failed, to extinguish the fire, the coastguard statement said.

The injured crew were taken by helicopter to medical facilities on the mainland. They suffered smoke inhalation, or were hurt during the evacuation, a spokesperson said.