Smoke is seen from a freight ship on the North Sea, about 27 kilometers north of the Dutch island of Ameland, on Friday, July 28, 2023. Salvage crews were waiting Friday for a chance to board a ship loaded with cars that have been burning off the northern Dutch coast for more than two days. High winds blowing across the North Sea are delaying efforts to tow a burning cargo ship loaded with thousands of new cars to safety off the Dutch coast, the government said Sunday.
The Fremantle Highway was not likely to be moved because of the southwesterly wind, the ministry of infrastructure and water management said in a statement.
The wind will continue to blow from the southwest for the next few days. The towing of the Fremantle Highway to the new temporary location may therefore still take several days to begin, the government said on its Facebook page.
The smoke from the fire and the wind direction mean that during the towing operation of the ship, smoke is blowing over the tugboat.
Salvage crews on Saturday attached a second towing cable to the ship, which is transporting 3783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles, from the German port of Bremerhaven to Singapore. The salvage teams eventually aim to tow the stricken ship to a port, but it is not yet clear where or when that will happen.
The ship has been burning since Tuesday, according to a spokesman. The firefighters decided not to douse the flames with water to make the ship unstable as it floats close to North Sea shipping lanes and a world-renowned migratory bird habitat.
One crew member died and others were injured after the fire broke out. The crew was evacuated in the early morning of Wednesday.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.