These are the first photos of the thousands of cars charred to cinders after the cargo ship transporting them caught fire.
The charred hulk of the Fremantle Highway car carrier was towed to the Dutch seaport of Eemshaven more than a week after a fire broke out on 25th July.
The cargo ship had left Bremerhaven, Germany, and was north of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog when the disaster struck.
These photos, taken by salvage experts, reveal the extent of the damage, with countless cars on board the blackened decks charred to cinders.
The cars were so badly scorched that just fragments of their burnt-out shells remain intact.
The Fremantle Highway, which was bound for Egypt with plans to continue to Singapore, was carrying 3,783 cars – 498 of them electric – at the time of the blaze.
It is still not known what caused the fire, but experts have said it was unlikely to have started in one of the electric vehicles.
CEO Peter Berdowski of dredging and marine experts Boskalis said earlier this month that some 1,000 cars on the lower four decks were still in good condition.
He revealed they were “readily movable” but warned: “We don’t want the cars to catch fire again during the towing process, restarting all the trouble.”
Of the unluckier vehicles, Berdowski said: “Part of those [upper] decks is completely melded with the cars. The decks are heavily damaged and difficult to access.”
Boskalis, along with towing and salvage firm Multraship, began removing cars from the cargo ship on 19th August.
The blaze on board the Fremantle Highway had forced crew members to leap from the nearly-19,000-tonne vessel into the sea.
Of the predominantly Indian crew, 22 were injured, and one died.
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Central European News
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