K Line confirms death after fire breaks out on car carrier

Photo: Dutch Coastguard

K Line has confirmed the death of a sailor after a fire broke out on car carrier Fremantle Highway last night off the Dutch coast. It said it was still trying to extinguish the fire. Twenty-two crew members have been taken to hospital.

The ship, which left the port of Bremerhaven at around 3pm local time on Tuesday, on course for Port Said in Egypt and then Singapore, was carrying some 3,000 cars, of which 25 were electric vehicles. A battery on an electric vehicle is thought to be the cause of the blaze. The BBC reports.