Fremantle Highway, beating Panamanian pavilion, carried 2,857 cars between Germany and Egypt, including 25 electric vehicles.
The fire broke out last night on Tuesday evening off the Netherlands, killing at least one and several injured among the members of the crew, the Dutch coast guard announced.
A spokesperson for the coast guard said that the fire may have declared himself in one of the electric cars.
The 199 m long boat was still on fire on Wednesday in the middle of the morning.
Starting from the German Port Bremerhaven, he was towed away from the maritime road leading from the North Sea to the Channel, according to the Dutch public channel NOS.
The Roulier sailed 27 km north of the island of Ameland when the fire broke out on Tuesday evening.
“All of the 23 members of the crew have now been evacuated from the boat” while “fire is still raging on board”, we read on the Internet portal of Coast Guard.
The worst recent disaster off the Dutch coast dates from December 2012, when the Cargo Baltic Ice, beating Bahamas Pavilion, also carrying cars, collided with a container carrier and sank. Eleven sailors were killed in this incident.
