Cargo Ship with 500 EVs Catches Fire at Sea

Another cargo ship laden with vehicles, this time EVs largely from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, is on fire at sea — this time off the coast of Denmark. It’s the second high-profile car carrier that’s caught fire at in the last 18 months.

The Fremantle Highway caught fire July 25. Allegedly the fire was caused by an EV onboard. Photo credit: Dutch Coastguard

According to reports from the Dutch Coastguard, recovery crews are working to put the fire out. They boarded the Freemantle Highway, Friday after it was determined the temperatures on the ship were falling and the was a decrease in smoke. 

The group managed to set up a stronger towing connection to move the ship, which is connected to another boat named Fairplay 30. There are four other ships on site as part of the operation, including two tugs (Guardian, Hunter) a salvage vessel (Multrasalvor) and an oil recovery vessel (Arca)

The recovery teams are now working with Dutch Coastguard to determine the best course of action. 

The beginning

Recovery crews are working with the Dutch Coastguard to put the fire out.

The Fremantle Highway, registered in Panama, is carrying about 500 battery-electric vehicles among the nearly 3,800 vehicles total, Automotive News reported. While the Japanese company that chartered the ship, K Line, or Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, declined to identify what brands of vehicles are onboard, BMW and Mercedes have publicly confirmed some of the vehicles are theirs.

The Dutch Coastguard received a report just before midnight July 25 there was a fire on board the Fremantle Highway, according to the agency. One person died and the remaining 23 crew members were evacuated safely.

Officially, the cause of the fire was unknown, but an emergency responder was heard in a recording released by Dutch broadcaster RTL saying “the fire started in the battery of an electric car,” Automotive News reported.

As the Fremantle Highway is registered in Panama, the Panama Maritime Authority is investigating with assistance from the Netherlands, according to the Dutch Safety Board. There are several hundred BMW and Mini cars on board, as well as roughly 300 Mercedes-Benz vehicles, representatives for the companies said.

The Felicity Ace sank before crews could determine what caused the fire that ultimately destroyed 4,000 vehicles.

Not again

In February 2022, the Felicity Ace was en route from Emden, Germany to a port in Rhode Island where it was to unload some of the 3,956 vehicles onboard. It then was to make its way down the U.S. coast, dropping off vehicles at several other ports.

The cargo included a large number of Volkswagen models, including the ID.4 battery-electric vehicle produced at a plant in Emden, as well as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley products. Those four brands are all part of the Volkswagen Group.

The fire started Feb. 16 and quickly raced out of control, forcing the crew to abandon the 650-foot ship and leave the carrier adrift off the Azores. It took days before fire-fighting tugs arrived and began spraying water on it.

Two weeks after it first caught fire, the car carrier Felicity Ace sank in the Atlantic Ocean about 250 miles off the coast of the Azores.

The Golden Ray capsized in rough seas off the Georgia coast.

An estimated $400 million worth of vehicles were aboard the ship when it burned and ultimately sank, according to risk analysis firm the Russell Group. That exceeds some earlier estimates that predicted the loss of cargo and the salvage effort might cost a combined $500 million.

Do we have a problem?

If seems like this seems to happen every year or two, your math isn’t far off as there have been at least eight other events involving car carriers at sea.

In fact, a ship named the Golden Ray nearly capsized near Brunswick, Georgia in 2019. The ship sat in the channel near the port on its side until it was chopped up and carried off. Prior to that there have been seven other incidents involving the roll-on, roll-off car carriers that are so often relied upon to get vehicles around the world.

In addition to the Felicity Ace, the Cougar Ace tipped over near the Aleutian Islands in 2006 while shifting ballast. There were 4,700 Mazdas on the ship, which was towed to Portland. The ship was righted, but the Mazda were all crushed and recycled. 

There was also the Baltic Ace, which collided with a container ship in 2012 off the coast of Rotterdam. The ship sank, killing 11 sailors. The ship, which contained 1,400 Mitsubishis, was cut into eight pieces and hauled away to be scrapped.

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