A car transport ship that burned for a week in the North Sea will be towed to a Dutch port

EEMSHAVEN, The Netherlands (AP) — Tugboats towed a freighter that burned for a week while driving thousands of cars in the North Sea to a Dutch port on Thursday for recovery, the Dutch government said.

The Fremantle motorway led to the northern port of Eemshaven, the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management said. A ship that has special booms for clean up oil spills accompanied the nearly 200-meter-long (about 650-foot-long) vessel as a precaution.

The ship with 3,784 new vehicles, including 498 electric ones, caught fire on July 25 while en route from the German port city of Bremerhaven to Singapore.

Curious tourists gathered on a bridge and sea wall in Eemshaven Harbor as the gray freighter was towed away. It was not clear how long the rescue work would take.

Port authority Groningen Seaports said it would work with local organizations “to limit damage to people and the environment as much as possible.”

He fire on fremantle highway it burned out of control for a week while floating near the busy shipping lanes of the North Sea and the shallow Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed habitat for migratory birds. The Dutch authorities did not attempt to spray water on the ship for fear of making it unstable.

The ministry said Eemshaven, located 215 kilometers (134 miles) northeast of Amsterdam, was chosen because it was close to the location of the Fremantle motorway on the North Sea and because of deteriorating weather conditions, existing infrastructure and facilities. facilities offered by the port for the salvage of the ship.

The fire on the ship also rattled Germany, which shares the Wadden Sea with the Netherlands.

The Environment Minister of the German state of Lower Saxony, Christian Meyer, thanked the Dutch authorities for making a quick decision on what to do with the Fremantle motorway.

“With the decision, the nail-biting and concerns that the cargo ship could break up and still lead to an environmental disaster in our priceless and valuable Wadden Sea will hopefully end,” Meyer said in a statement.

He said his region had several ships on standby to combat potential oil leaks or help with towing during transfer.

Meyer called on the German federal government to establish a route further offshore for ships carrying hazardous materials, including large car carriers.

The Dutch ministry said salvage experts They have inspected most of the ship and “there is no indication that the fire is still burning.”

One crew member was killed and others were injured when the fire broke out. The crew of 21, all Indian nationals, and two other people on board, were evacuated in the early hours of July 26. The cause of the fire has not been established.

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Mike Corder in The Hague and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.