The car freighter, which was severely damaged by a major fire in the North Sea, will be towed to the Dutch seaport of Eemshaven this Thursday. This was announced by the national water authority on Thursday night. Eemshaven is the closest seaport to the boat’s current anchorage, some 16 kilometers to the north of the Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog. After a week, the “Fremantle Highway” was recovered.
Eemshaven is located on the German border at about the same level as Emden. The port is the best option given the bad weather conditions, infrastructure and short distance, the agency said. This would limit risks.
Fire is under control
The transport over a distance of around 64 kilometers is scheduled to start this morning. But the departure and arrival times are heavily dependent on the weather, currents and tides, the authority said. The ship is accompanied by salvage specialists as well as a special ship that can clean up leaking oil in an emergency.
According to the water authority, the “Fremantle Highway” is stable at its current anchorage. The fire is also under control. But the risk of an environmental catastrophe for the islands and the Wadden Sea remained high. The heavily damaged freighter has around 1.6 million liters of heavy fuel oil and almost 3,800 cars on board.
Dangers of strong winds
The salvage company Boskalis had warned that the freighter would be difficult to control in the expected strong north-west wind. The freighter can be unloaded in the port. The Japanese shipowner then decides whether the ship will be scrapped or repaired.
The “Fremantle Highway” was on its way from Bremerhaven to Singapore when a fire broke out a week ago. The source of the fire was probably the battery of an electric car. But that’s not confirmed yet. A man from India had died during the evacuation of the ship. The remaining 22 crew members were rescued.
