A cargo ship carrying nearly 3,000 cars off the coast of the Dutch island of Amerland was set ablaze, resulting in the death of at least one crew member and injury of several others on Wednesday.
Many of the workers on the cargo ship were forced to jump overboard following the blaze that started on Tuesday night on the 199-meter-long Panama-registered Fremantle Highway. The incident occurred while the vessel was en route from Germany to Egypt.
Cargo Ship Fire Kills 1
In a statement on social media, the Indian Embassy located in the Netherlands said that the ship fire had "resulted in the death of an Indian seafarer and injuries to the crew." The embassy added that it was already communicating with the deceased's family. The ship's captain, Japan's Shoei Kisen, said that the entire crew, which totaled 21, were Indian nationals.
Rescue ships that arrived near the burning ship sprayed water onto the vessel to cool it down. However, using too much water could risk the boat sinking because it would be too heavy, as per Reuters.
Some reports estimated the ship could continue to burn for several days, citing coast guard officials. In a statement, the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works said that the blaze was still not under control.
A spokesperson for the department added that it was difficult to extinguish, which officials believe could be because of the cargo the ship was carrying. The coast guard posted on its website that the cause of the fire remains a mystery. However, a spokesperson said the blaze started near an electric vehicle.
A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, which is responsible for regulating safety standards at sea, said that it was planning to evaluate new measures for ships that are transporting electric vehicles next year because of the increasing number of incidents of fires on cargo ships.
Controlling the Blaze
The captain of the Ameland lifeboat, Willard Molenaar, said that seven members of the ship's crew jumped into the war, where rescuers fished them out. According to BBC, he noted that they were desperate because of the dire situation on the ship.
The coast guard shared photographs showing the burning ship engulfed in smoke and flames licking the deck in an area of the North Sea. The blaze began when the vessel was roughly 27 kilometers north of the Ameland in the Wadden Sea.
In a statement, the North Sea Foundation environmental group said that the Wadden Sea has recently become increasingly vulnerable due to the number of larger ships that use the extremely busy shipping route.
In a Twitter post, the coast guard added that the recovery vessel Hunter has an emergency connection to the burning ship and is currently holding the ship in a controlled position. It added that multiple parties are working on an action plan to limit the damage as much as possible, said CNN.
