Response to Freighter Fire
Rules for e-car transport at sea are to be tightened
mbo/dpa
8/1/2023 4:13 am
The fire on the huge car freighter “Fremantle Highway” in the North Sea has still not been extinguished. Among thousands of vehicles, the ship also has several hundred e-cars on board. The World Shipping Organization responsible wants to tighten regulations for their transport, because incidents with such cars were increasing.
According to the World Maritime Organization IMO, safety precautions for the transport of electric vehicles on ships are “high on the agenda”. A spokeswoman for the London-based organization said that there are already applicable regulations, but they are still being expanded. This is in response to the increasing number of fire incidents associated with the carriage of alternative energy vehicles, including lithium-ion battery powered vehicles. Further meetings and expert discussions are planned.
There were far more electric cars on the burning freighter “Fremantle Highway” off the Dutch coast than initially assumed – namely 498 and not 25. This was announced by the company K-Line, which chartered the freighter from a Japanese shipowner. According to experts, the batteries in electric cars are more difficult to extinguish. The battery of one of these cars may also have been the source of the fire. But that’s not confirmed yet.
There are a total of 3783 cars on the ship. The fire broke out on Wednesday night on the ship’s car deck. The freighter has since been towed to a new anchorage that is believed to be safer and more sheltered from the wind.
The IMO is a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN). It is responsible for the international regulation of shipping traffic and sets binding standards worldwide.