Berlin, Jul. 27, (dpa/GNA) – A ship safety expert commented on the challenges of extinguishing the fire burning on the freighter off the Dutch coast.
Lars Tober, maritime shipping safety expert, said the fire was so hard to extinguish because it could not be approached from the inside.
“It’s a big hull that’s burning on the inside. I can only put water on it from the outside, so I can’t get inside, I don’t have an opening where I can effectively use extinguishing agents,” Tober told German public broadcaster ZDF on Thursday.
“The challenge is to keep the ship stable, that it doesn’t list, that it doesn’t capsize and that it doesn’t get cracks in the hull,” Tober said. “That’s actually the main task now.”
Tober said: “The bunker tanks are below the waterline, so there is no danger for the time being. And the fuel in the vehicles, which is mostly petrol, evaporates at the high temperatures, so it is rather unlikely that fuels will leak out there.” The batteries of the electric cars are no longer a risk because according to his information, they would only burn for about half an hour.
The ship, the Fremantle Highway, was on its way from Bremerhaven in Germany to Singapore when the fire broke out about 27 kilometres off the Dutch coast on Wednesday. One person died and 22 were slightly injured. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
GNA