Deadly cargo ship fire still burning on vessel carrying 500 electric vehicles in North Sea
Deadly cargo ship fire still burning on vessel carrying 500 electric vehicles in North Sea CBS News
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The Hague, Netherlands
A fire on a cargo ship carrying more than 3,500 new vehicles was still burning Thursday in the North Sea a day after the Dutch coast guard said one crew member had died in the blaze. The company operating the cargo ship, K Line, was quoted by the Reuters news agency Friday as saying almost 500 of the vehicles on the stricken vessel, the Freemantle Highway car carrier, were battery electric vehicles (EVs).
Cause of Fire and Response
The Dutch coast guard said Thursday that the cause of the fire was unclear and that only about 25 of the vehicles on the ship were EVs, but in the audio of an emergency call released by Dutch broadcaster RTL, someone can be heard saying “the fire started in the battery of an electric car.”
CBS News was unable to reach anyone in K Line’s offices in London or the Netherlands on Friday who would comment on the ship.
Number and Make of Vehicles
According to an unnamed K Line spokesperson in Tokyo quoted by Reuters, there were 3,783 vehicles on the Freemantle Highway, including 498 EVs. The spokesperson did not give Reuters any information about the make of the vehicles on the ship.
Efforts to Save the Vessel
The coast guard said it was working to save the vessel from sinking close to an important habitat for migratory birds. Boats and helicopters were used to get the 23 crew members off the ship after they tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze, the coast guard said in a statement.
Some of the crew members jumped off the ship’s deck into the sea and were picked up by a lifeboat, the lifeboat’s captain told Dutch broadcaster NOS. Some of the crew suffered broken bones, burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospitals in the northern Netherlands, emergency services said.
Current Situation and Potential Sinkage
“Currently there are a lot of vessels on scene to monitor the situation and to see how to get the fire under control,” coast guard spokesperson Lea Versteeg said by telephone. “But it’s all depending on weather and the damage to the vessel. So we’re currently working out to see how we can make sure that … the least bad situation is going to happen.”
Location and Environmental Impact
The Fremantle Highway was sailing from the German port of Bremerhaven to Port Said in Egypt when it caught fire about 17 miles north of the Dutch island of Ameland. Its location is close to a chain of Dutch and German islands popular with tourists in the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed area described by UNESCO as “the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world” and “one of the most important areas for migratory birds in the world.”
Uncertainty and Damage Limitation
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, and it wasn’t clear how the crew member’s death occurred. “It’s carrying cars, 2,857 of which 25 are electrical cars, which made the fire even more difficult. It’s not easy to keep that kind of fire under control and even in such a vessel it’s not easy,” Versteeg said.
German Support
Authorities in Germany were also on alert, German news agency dpa reported. “We are monitoring the situation,” a spokesperson for the German sea disaster command in the northern city of Cuxhaven said, adding that it had offered support to the Dutch authorities. He said rescue ships and task forces were ready to help if needed, but that no decision had been made on whether to send them.
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
1. SDGs Addressed:
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- SDG 14: Life Below Water
- SDG 15: Life on Land
2. Specific Targets:
- SDG 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.
- SDG 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.
- SDG 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
3. Indicators:
- Number of infrastructure upgrades and retrofits implemented to improve sustainability (related to SDG 9.4)
- Amount of marine pollution prevented or reduced, including marine debris (related to SDG 14.1)
- Extent of conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems (related to SDG 15.1)
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure | Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes. | Number of infrastructure upgrades and retrofits implemented to improve sustainability. |
| SDG 14: Life Below Water | Target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution. | Amount of marine pollution prevented or reduced, including marine debris. |
| SDG 15: Life on Land | Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements. | Extent of conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems. |
Analysis:
The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDGs 9, 14, and 15. SDG 9 focuses on industry, innovation, and infrastructure, which is relevant to the fire on the cargo ship carrying vehicles. The target under SDG 9 that can be identified is to upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable. The article mentions that the cause of the fire is unclear, indicating a need to improve the sustainability and safety of infrastructure and industrial processes.
SDG 14, which addresses life below water, is also relevant to the article. The target under SDG 14 is to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution. The fire on the cargo ship could lead to marine pollution if the ship sinks or if pollutants are released into the sea. Therefore, preventing and reducing marine pollution is an important target in this context.
SDG 15, which focuses on life on land, is connected to the article due to the potential impact of the fire on the terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems in the vicinity of the incident. The target under SDG 15 is to ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of these ecosystems. The article mentions that the location of the ship is close to a World Heritage-listed area and an important habitat for migratory birds. Therefore, it is crucial to protect and sustainably manage these ecosystems.
The indicators mentioned or implied in the article include the number of infrastructure upgrades and retrofits implemented to improve sustainability (related to SDG 9.4), the amount of marine pollution prevented or reduced, including marine debris (related to SDG 14.1), and the extent of conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems (related to SDG 15.1).
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Source: cbsnews.com
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