Cargo ship fire sparks safety concerns over electric-car transport – report
Almost 500 electric cars are among the approximately 3800 vehicles onboard the cargo ship which caught fire off the Dutch coast last week – sparking fresh calls for the sea transport industry to implement better policies to put out fires involving electric vehicles.
A cargo ship fire off the Dutch coast last week has prompted the sea freight industry to assess safer practices for transporting electric cars, as blazes involving battery-powered vehicles are said to be harder to contain and manage than petrol and diesel fires.
As reported late last week, a fire broke out in the cargo hold of the Panama-registered ‘Fremantle Highway’ ship while it was transporting vehicles from Germany to Egypt – killing at least one crew member and leaving several others injured after they jumped overboard.
Initial overseas reports suggested there were just 25 electric cars among 2857 vehicles
