Fremantle Highway 🔥 Fire | EVs or Not EVs, That is the Question? 

Very strange that the manifest has not been made public, just like it was very strange that there was supposed to be 25 EVs on the ship yet actually it was 498. The fact the truth is so hard to find raises its own questions.

Every industry needs commentary like this. Bravo, sir. You're a front-runner.

When I worked at a BMW processing center in California back in the 90's, all the vehicles that were loaded on transport ships had to have master switches connected between the positive battery terminal and positive battery cable. This was to disable the entire electrical system of the vehicle so the battery wouldn't drain over the 2 to 3 month's it took the ship to reach its destination. Also they barely put enough fuel in the fuel tank to even drive the half mile to the storage lots from the dock after unloading. The shuttle van that takes the shuttle drivers to the dock to drive the vehicle had to carry a gas can with them because many of the car would run out of gas on the way.

One of the reasons why they want to control the flow of information so tightly is because of the larger ramifications of what is going on. Not just about EV's, but shipping, safety, inspections, etc. It's all such a nightmare of implications they don't want people jumping to conclusions. They also fail to see that by doing so, they fuel conjecture.

It can take up to nine hours for a well equipped fire department to deal with a lithium ion battery fire. And that's actually optimistic. Some vehicle fires burn for days. Recently, in New York City, a store owner parked his electric bicycle in his shop, locked up, and left for the day. The battery shorted out, setting the shop ablaze, and the whole building became fully involved. It grew to a multi-alarm blaze, threatening adjacent structures. FDNY firefighters dragged the remains of the electric bicycle out into the street, and it was still burning. Such fires are a challenge even for world class fire agencies like the FDNY, so you can imagine what confronts a small town or suburban fire department, when an electric vehicle catches fire. A fire of that type aboard a ship, or an aircraft, is unimaginable.

Congratulations! You pronounced Eemshaven perfectly, with a tinge of an English accent, granted, but you were speaking English, but so clear and masterful that it is clear to all that it is about a Haven on the Eems (Dutch), and not on the Ems (German). (There is a sort of still fairly recent political disagreement about the wet border in those waters, which seemed to have been sort of solved, and quite interesting for borders at sea near land issues, but no thing any honest US sailor should get involved in by accident by implicating that Dutch ports should be German or the other way round, if he wants to talk about shipping.)

As a life long mariner, I can say I would definitely choose free-fall lifeboats if I ever had to evacuated a ship. They are simpler and quicker to launch than any other means of evacuation.

One German politician leaked the photos from the inside of the ship and on one of them there is clearly visible AT LEAST ONE Porsche Taycan burned down completely. Car next to it appears to be another Taycan, but this is not exactly clear from the picture. Also, crew member stated that fire started with an EV vehicle, when asked by Dutch rescue services for more details about the fire.

Your pronounciation of "Eemshaven" was spot on this time 😊 regards from NLD

Quite apart from EV's and fires, it's a treat to see a competant journo put out high quality content. You could do a report on rubber duckies and I'd still watch it to bask in real journalism.

There are reasons why LiPo batteries can't be shipped by air in anything other than small quantities, so why they think shipping so many large battery packed vehicles on a single ship is an interesting question!

The leaked photograph appears to show a Porsche Taycan BEV, so we know that at least one EV was involved.

if the carrier is hiding the location of the ev's then that is not a good look. It makes it seems as though they are doing this on purpose.

Good comments. Not sure if this helps. One thing I was told about a recent enquiry into a Liverpool, UK multi-story car park fire where 1400 vehicles were burnt was that modern petrol tanks are now made of plastic and not steel so they melt and breach more quickly. The whole car park was running with petrol and uncontollable. This one started in one Landrover and then spread as the petrol tanks melted.

I would expect that car manufactures do not want any information to get out either. Electric or EV, if my car started the fire, or made it worse, the world doesn't need to know. Facts are that every car involved in the fire made it worse but no one wants fingers pointed at their company.

We kinda know from a leaked photo that at least one EV did burn as it was with a high degree of confidence identified as a porsche taycan, so at least that one is hard to shake off.

Thanks Saul. You are wasting your breath. Facts do not matter, only Progress matters

I've had to strap into free falling lifeboats a couple of times for drills. I do not want to drop in one, but I guess it's better than the alternative of staying on a burning oil platform.

My personal experience is that cars can catch fire, no matter what the fuel type. Also fires on ships can start in cargo, or elsewhere. Look forward to finding out what did happen though.

Hey Sal! I saw you in the BBC documentary about the Ever Given I came across on RU-vid last night! Hey, I know that guy! Sal knows his stuff. Big container ships or car carriers, Sal is the OG in shipping news!

Fremantle Highway vessel burned hot for sure and some EV cars must have certainly caught fire. These EV cars may have not have started the fire but some caught fire for sure. In the future if I decide to buy an EV car, I will park it in the driveway as far from the house as possible and NEVER park it in my homes garage. Great coverage Sal, truthful but not clickbait coverage, just calling like it is, much appreciated.

I've seen a leaked photo of cars which are clearly EVs and they are burnt to almost to dust.

Yep, your pronunciation was spot on.

Why build a wall of containers if they have nothing to hide? Thanks for the update Sal photos have already been leaked of EV's on board

Thank you for commenting on this whole incident with a highly professional mindset. I appreciate a lot!

I was in the USAF for years and had to attend fire at least once a year. Sometime in the 1980's the USAF started to use HALON 1211. There have been improvements with the HALON since then and it worked good at putting out fires. I wounder why they haven't used something like that on these ships. I do know about the B/S Ozone nonsense and some places have band them, but they are not band here in the US. But I always liked to hit the Fire Department up with a question, will it put out a Magnesium or Titanium fire. Their answer was always no. Bing a Machinist for years i know of several metals that burn and are extremely difficult to impossible put out. Magnesium and Titanium are two though Titanium is a bit harder to get going. Aluminum is another metal that will burn under the right conditions, more intense and hotter than other metals. Many of the newer cars and EV's use a lot of aluminum to lighten them so they can use less power when driving them. However the auto industry as been using Magnesium/Aluminum alloys in vehicle bodies, parts and in batteries for a long time now due to its high strength-to-weight ratio but is combustible when exposed to flame or high heat around 800°F and exposed to a salt water environment can produce Hydrogen gas. Whatever the cause of this this fire, I'm not surprised at how quickly it spread and how hot it got. It is important to note that I'm not blaming EV's for starting this fire, they may or may not be the cause and no one knows at this point. But once a Magnesium Aluminum alloy starts burning it has a tendency to pop or spit hot globs of burning molten globs metal the will start other fires that are impossible to put out. Throwing water on a fire like that will only intensify it and salt water makes it far worse. I've seen aluminum/magnesium alloy burn a through a 1 inch thick plate and if you search RU-vid there are videos of magnesium burning inside of dry ice that will not go out. Here is one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NaejFHVjH2w.html

Classification matters. Everyone focuses on pure electric vehicles. A fire starting/spreading to a hybrid could be just as devastating, if that hybrid contains a lithium-ion battery.

Even if there were decks that weren't involved in the fire, I think all the cars are totaled from either being burned, getting hit with debris from the fire, or being so smoke saturated that it's impossible to get rid of the smell.

During the same week as the ship was burning, A 2023 Mercedes Benz EV that was sitting 22 hours in a Florida garage started burning, without even being recharged. Total damage to the house: 1 million dollars and it is most likely torn down because of it. Now, if there were Mercedes Benz EV's on that ship... well. You can draw the conclusion from that.

Thank you. The lack of detailed information tells me somebody is hiding something that they don't want the public to know. Who has the most to lose? Therein lies the answer.

Thanks for your logical and analytical way of reporting news on that fire. Greatly appreciated. 👍

There are a picture of a burned out Porsche Taycan from Fremantle Highway sirculating. To be seen on Auto Expert John Cadogan from today here on youtube. Plus we do not know about plug in hybrids and hybrids whit the same batteries (albeit smaler) as the pure EVs. Battery fires are bad does not matter if the fire start in an EV as the result is the same if a fire reach an EV. P.s. not an EV hater (have one myself and love it).

They might be trying to keep stuff quiet but they won't be able to hide the truth from Lloyds or other maritime insurers. If policy prices change for shipping that is carrying EVs, you'll know the answer.

Prior to EV's how many car carriers cargo spontaneously caught fire?

There's a photo showing a burnt out Porsche Taycan. Dont know if that caused the fire, but it certainly helped to cook the rest.

I am all pro EV, but it pisses me off how the media jumped on the band wagon "An EV started the fire". Fine, if it did, bad, but at that time, nobody knew. I am totally fine with better fire management procedures, I agree that Li-Batteries have a lot room for improvement, but man, how the media went on the click-bait-bad-guy train... 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 Nice to hear one who is level headed on this! 👍👍

As a seafarer that has been in multiple freefall lifeboat launches (actually freefalled as part of drills) my oppinion is that they are MUCH safer than convetional (davit launched) lifeboats. Davit launched lifeboats have killed more than they have saved, im not sure on the stats of freefall lifeboats but given the option i would take a freefall every time! Why? simply because they are DESIGNED to freefall, just the momentum of that also takes the lifeboat clear of the ship, sure they arent perfect but with some training they are a pretty good system.... Davit launch of the other hand need to be unlashed, check the hooks, wires etc are all set correctly then lauch, if any wire or hook fails then you get dropped (which they are not designed for) and that has disasterous consequences...if all goes smoothly you are still right next to the burning ship untill you use the engine to get away.

I've seen a video of mariners going off a ship in a free falling lifeboat. They were preforming safety drills. There was a very long and fervent prayer in Tagalog, everyone crossed themselves twice and then they cut loose. It looked extremely frightening and the mariners were definitely relieved when it was over. Imagine doing that in high seas or with a fire raging around you.

That is a beautiful campus. Free fall lifeboats are limited to a fall height of 60’ I heard. This ship is over 80’ tall.

free falling life boats... I used to work on the oil rigs off the Santa Barbara coast. One day, we tested a red/orange foam boat. It was hollow in the middle, oval, not round, with wide webbing to sit on. It was stored in a 45 degree drop shute about 50' above the water. It was 10 or so years old in 1992. someone pulls the handle, and its supposed to slide out, fall, hit the water, and the rope is used to gather it in and load people. well, pull... and... it hits the water. An orange cloud of disintegrated foam and webbing drifted away. We as workers, were not impressed.

The EVs fueled the fire for it couldnt be put out for a week.

Solid, meaningful update, much appreciated.

Can never say for sure till the facts are out, but my money is on a EV. I've been a tow truck driver for 16 years now and nothing has changed this industry more then EVs, i get it's the *FuTuRe* but for us, it's pure hell. We are currently the only tow service within 60 miles that'll touch the things, in the past 3 years, we've lost 2 roll backs and 1 tow truck when these things caught fire mid transport, worked countless non wreck scenes where EVs were just going down the road and caught fire, and many auto racks hauling new EVs just caught fire going down the road for no reason. We bought 1.4 acres of land just to put these things on because they can go up for no reason and place them 5 car lengths away for each other. Yes we get ICEs (nonwreck) catching fire to, but here's the thing, right now they are about tied (we work a very busy part of I95) and if EVs only have about 13 to 15 percent market share right now and were getting about the same for each, what does that tell you..... I'll be very interested if no facts truly come out but one or more shipping companies make changes to what/how they haul these things from now on, kinda like how a certain car carrier refused to haul GM EVs (because they kept catching fire mid transport) but never publicly said why, because how would it look if you publicly said you won't haul something that suppose to be the future.

Earlier today I saw a picture allegedly from the ship which shows a Porsche Taycan burnt out, amongst a lot of other burnt out cars of indeterminate power system

The answer is to design car carriers that minimize fire damage, especially from electric cars. I just got through watching a video of a guy who just purchased an e-bike. He made a video of his first experience riding on the thing. He went maybe three miles, stopped at a light when the thing began to billow smoke. he took it to the side and it immediately caught fire. That was a six thousand dollar bike and the battery didn't last a single trip before it caught fire.

It doesn't matter that the source of the fire wasn't an EV, if an EV is in the fire's path, that's when the real problems are going to start!

The fact that they won't say is significant. Also, a conventional car fire can be contained by a standard sprinkler system. Not the case with EVs.

You mentioned the owners trying to keep a lid on the ships internal condition and loading. Surely the Netherlands coastguard and rescue services will be reporting on cause eventually?

Bottom line is that with car carriers each vehicle on board that has Petrol or diesel has maybe 5 litres of fuel just enough to drive on and off the ship. When a fire occurs they shut down the ventilation system and that small ammount of hydrocarbon fuel simply cannot survive to become a raging inferno when there is no Oxygen to aid the burn process. However with EV's the Battery being a Lithium Iron Battery when they decide to ignite and as we know from all sorts of products that use these Lithium based Battery packs they do self ignite at times, But the real issue is that Lithium Batteries do not respond to having the ventiilation system shut down because Lithium Batteries actually when burning produce their own Oxygen therefore you cannot kill a fire with Lithium batteries because they make their own Oxygen as well as supplying the fuel as well unlike Fuel fires from conventional vehicles.

The point is, if an EV batt. was involved in the fire , they would not be able to extinguish the fire. Foam and CO2 will extinguish a gas fire but not a Lithium metal fire.

I heard the salvage company said no EVs were burned for a total of 900 vehicles that were not burned.

The origin could be located much more closely by looking at the vids and photos from the very beginning. Where the paint burned off first will be pretty close. As for where the EVs were loaded, the manifest should show that. More investigation is required. The other thing is, the cars weren't loaded by type, they were loaded by shipment, be it all IC or mixed IC/EV.

...like a chihuahua with a firm bite on this incident you won't let go; and i'm proud of you, facts matter. Not just a story, it needs following. Sorry Sal, I know it's off topic but i have not found news on the Romanian bound ship that suffered a shot across her bow by a Russian Navy ship. And a few days ago another ship stopped and searched Turkish bound. Today the first ship to run the blockade arrives in Ukraine... ...what's going on in the Black Sea? (Thanks)

"Peter Berdowski is in charge of the salvage operation, which is being undertaken by Royal Boskalis Westminster NV. After inspecting the damaged ship, he told the local press that between 900 and 1000 of the cars on board appear to be in good condition - including all 498 electric cars."

As EVs are heavier than ICE cars it would make sense for the ship's stability to load them on the lower decks. One thing we can assume is that in general, the design of car carriers need to have better fire fighting and containment capabilities in order to safely carry this many vehicles, that, ev or not, pose signiifcant fire hazards

It seems clear the manufacturers of the vehicles on board the Dutch Oven are strenuously objecting to releasing information. This is understandable as the investigation is still in early phases. Blocking the vessel from view of the public and media while in port is definitive. I also read the report from Boskalis stating the vehicles on the lower decks were undamaged. My suggestion, do not buy a demonstrator at your local dealer, especially if it is a Volkswagen product. 🇺🇸⚓️

👌👍 Pleasantly surprised by your exceptionally good pronunciation of Eemshaven.

1) "Thumbs up" for this update on facts and thoughts. :-) 2) Me too: great pronunciation of "Eemshaven". You may proceed to the next lesson: pronouncing the first "S" in "Boskalis". ;-)

As an automotive engineer, I stick to the facts: 0.08% of normal cars catch fire, 0.01% of electric cars catch fire. The evidence has come out of the ship that caught fire in the Netherlands. The 500 EVs came off the ship undamaged and the cause has now been determined: an ordinary vehicle. A new campaign is being conducted against EVs, now a new means to empty the state coffers has been found, namely synthetic fuels. Asking price 2630 Euro / liter or 9985 Dollar / US gallon). People will pay a slightly higher price than normal at the pump, the rest will be made up (stolen) by the state to supposedly save the climate and never before have the petroleum companies earned so much money with which they can pay corrupt politicians and media to promote this . That is the truth.

Are EV's the most risky or would that fall on to Hybrids where they contain both batteries and gas power? How many Hybrids were on board that charred car carrier?

Since we are stuck with EVs whether we like them or not, do you think car carriers should be segregated? Any carrier with EVs aboard with larger crews, better trained and equipped to fight EV fires?

My guess/speculation why owners are trying to keep public in dark as to why or how did it happened is becouse its in europe and EU parliament might come up with some regulations and laber EVs and plug in hybrids as "hazardous" to transport and will require new dedicated type of vessels... but it might be step in right direction to set new safety standards in order to protect the crews that live on board of those car carriers also i dont have anything against evs dont get me wrong safety of personel should be number one priority what ever was couse of that fire

Electrical energy stored in the EV battery is about 1 to 2 gallon of gasoline equivalent at 100% charge. Usually EV are shipped with less than 50% SOC so less than 1 gallon of gasoline equivalent + solvent based electrolyte.

Someone actually talking perfect sense about this whole event! Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity. 😊 We have blankets that can cover ev’s now to put them out. Hopefully better sensors and warnings on boats would mean that early detection could stop fires spreading, no matter the cause.

You got Eemshaven pronunciation Perfectly!!🎉

I'm curious... If ONLY regular nasty ol' ICE cars were involved, why were the ship's conventional fire suppression systems (inert gas, water sprinklers, magic fairy dust, whatever) unable to control the situation before it got out of hand?

Leaked photos show Porsche EVs were involved.

Exactly Sal, its irrelevant if a EV started the fire or not. Once the EV had its run away chemical reaction its was over. Hence why all EV should be banned from tunnels, ferries and parking garages. Those cars not burned I would imagine would have major smoke damage 😕

Great, clear reporting.

Thank you for this information (or lack of) There are EV nutter blockers going around broadcasting "fact" that no EV's was involved. I have seen a picture of burned out EV's on the ship

Is suspect “Lloyd’s of London” (if that is who insured the cargo), will be very interested in the actual EV count.., 25 noted, but over 800 actual…, sheesh. Loved seeing the campus in the back ground, great video Professor Mercogliano, Thank you sir.

Rocking those sunglasses! Thanks for the update!

Thanks for the very concise summary and update. Lots of people out there are making rash conclusions without facts.

I watched a documentary on the process used to recycle lithium-ion batteries, it was rather interesting in that it is recommended industry practice to store the unrecycled batteries in piles but those piles needed to be 15 meters apart in order to prevent a chain reaction as a result of thermal runaway. If Lithium Ion batteries are safe then why the precaution? I frankly have never seen lead-acid batteries stored in segregated piles in a junkyard.

Great to see a RU-vidr whose every video is aiming to be objective. The truth matters. I am really sick of one side, concerned about climate change, denying there are any problems with solutions proposed and the other side denying that the is any problem to be solved and exaggerating the real problems. The current problem with EV fires is primarily because of the current Lion technology with relies on a highly flammable liquid electrolyte. That problem may be resolved with next generation solid state Lithium batteries. In the meantime there are real fire issues to be addressed, not only with EVs but with new cars in general which are made of more combustible materials.

In the name of Safety release the manifest! Also good to know how the deck 5 fire break worked. could there be more ways to make voids on the boats?

I'm not an "espelto" but all this silence is awesome, tells you everything there is to know, and from sixth grade i remember experiments with batteries in a saline environment.

The whole like or don't like EVs is a big problem in any discussion around them. If you question the safety of them in any way, you are considered anti-EV, anti-Climate change, etc etc. It's frequently difficult to have a rational conversation. I don't hate EVs, I think they have some impressive benefits - but the head-long rush to turn everything into an EV, feels like a far too short time-line to understand all of the issues. In Europe we are banning ICE sales barely 20 years after the first modern EVs took to the road, when you consider the average age of a car in Europe is ~12 years old, it's nowhere near long enough to understand all the implications. Ah well.

My man got it right. Well done. You learn every day

Before these ships started carrying EVs, how many of these ship have suffered this amount of damage?

That's the big elephant in the room....people keep saying the fire was not caused by EVs, but if the fire involves EVs then it goes out of control and it doesn't matter where it started. EVs may not catch fire as often, but when they do the consequences are much more drastic.

Are the Hybred vehicals listed seperatly? 🎉 thanks Prof Sal

In Europe there is currently a political agenda of pushing EV adoption as a means to "save the planet", the UK is particularly trying really hard to force the change with Ultra Low Emissions Zones where older cars are banned, unless they pay a usage fee per day. Of course they aren't interested in bad press about this and have the EV go the way of nuclear power at worst, or the more realistic problem, force changes to already expensive car parking structures that are often close by other structures with people in them. Not as badly as a car carrier, but if the EVs have to be regulated and banned, their environmental adoption clauses fall on deaf ears if you have trouble finding parking for them, inconvenience of charging for long periods, a lot longer long distance commutes. This is a very politically charged subject in Europe at the moment, and that this happened this close to the shorelines presents a real political headache.

Great episode Sal. I concur with all of your views relating to EV's in particular and car carrying vessels in general. Something needs to be done to enforce better standards. I think you have pointed out that the vast majority of these incidents are happening on very few lines of vessels. Sounds like new SOP's needed and ENFORECEMENT!

I'd love some details on the recent car carrier fire in N.J. that killed two firefighters and was presumably started by an internal combustion vehicle.

That the shipping company has not released information and they are trying to hide the ship is very interesting.

Accuracy is important if the truth is desired. Thanks for the consistency Sal

ev's are a waste of both manufacturing energy and the electrons that are contained in the batteries

There are leaked pictures that show burnt evs….

For anyone who says "nO eV's WeRe InVoLvEd", here is a video with a leaked photo showing a burnt out EV on the ship: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yYpjkWUGpbo.html

Superb video 👍👍

Well, since the fire issue started when ev's became popular, it would stand to reason that this might be the cause. The fact that lithium battery fires are impossible to put out doesn't help their cause.

Thank you for your concise and impartial report. My hope is that there is a fully independent report and investigation about the Fremantle Highway. It is crying out for that because it is still floating and could be a important source of information about what actually happened, be it ice cars or ev’s.

We need to wait for official statement. But no matter ... even if NO EV burned, even if ICE started the fire, it doesn't change fact that most used type of Lithium battery (NCM, NCO etc) are dangerous. LFP should be start, as they have greatly reduced fire dynamics, but we should not stop there. Solid state batteries, sodium batteries ... there is lot to find out.

Even if it was an EV that started the fire do you honestly think that information would be shared.

Why the secrecy and barriers. if ev's are not involved wouldn't they want to release the manifest and photos as proof. Or possibly could they box trailer in new EV cars use a bucket of ashes from the ship get a shovel to dust the new car bodys up and park them up next to the ship and say look all 500 are there dirty but complete. Foil hat aside something really doesn't add up. Another great vid sal

Even if EV’s could be argued to be individually less likely to combust than ICE vehicles, when carried in the incredibly tight confines of a Car Carrier due to the near impossibility of extinguishing them they raise the risk to the vessel immensely.

they know exactly what was parked where on each deck, in what stall. They ( shipping company and manufacturers) knew precisely what to say and what not to say. Even the Dutch NOS is trying hard to sweep it under the carpet. has everybody forgotten already that one crewmember jumped of the ship and died? 84000 people did read this article, 1169 replied. Taylor Swift tickets went on sale for her concert in Toronto, according to the Vancouver CBC radio, Ticketmaster got 31 million requests. It is imho safe to assume that none of those 31 million gave a flying fuck about what burned of the Dutch Coast. We will never find out , they (BMW, Porsche, RR and das Haus) will not release any info. Greetings to all from a very Hot YVR

The Vehicle Transport ships will have to be designed to contain and isolate fires using firewalls and the ability to flood an area seawater to extinguish a fire! It may be necessary to use Sea Containers to ship EV Vehicles which can be individually filled with water to extinguish a EV fire. Better to loose a few EV vehicles within a SeaCan than the complete shipment.

👍👏 Wonder why they're not telling us..?