News reports are that salvors fighting the fire on the car carrier Fremantle Highway have been temporarily stopped in their attempt to cool the exterior of the stricken ship with water. There are serious concerns that water from the firefighting could accumulate on the upper decks, making the ship unstable and likely to capsize. 

“We have to make sure that no excess water ends up on board because that would damage its stability,” the coastguard said in a website update,  on Thursday afternoon.

The measure is temporary and maybe resumed later in the day, the update said. “The advantages have to be weighed up against the risks that cooling the ship brings.”

The ship itself is still on fire and bellowing smoke, making it difficult to land investigators on board to check out the situation. The ship is currently some 16 kilometres north of the Wadden Sea island of Terschelling. The ship is close to a world-renowned bird habitat off the Dutch coast. The tugboat Fairplay 30 is being used to attempt to keep the ship from drifting into busy shipping lanes.

The Fremantle Highway was sailing from the German port of Bremerhaven to Singapore when it caught fire in the North Sea shortly before midnight Tuesday about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, sparking fears of an environmental disaster.

One crew member died and others were injured early Wednesday. The entire crew, made up of 21 Indian nationals, has been evacuated from the ship. The cause of the fire hasn’t been established.

Meanwhile, the German press agency DPA said on Thursday the number of cars on board the vessel had been revised upwards from almost 3,000 to 3,783. It bases the new figure on comments from Japanese shipping company K Line which owns the ship.

Ameland mayor Leo Peter Stoel said earlier he is extremely concerned about the risk of the vessel capsizing. If this happens, part of the cargo of 3,783 cars will drift toward the Wadden Islands, which are a protected environment.

Allianz’s Safety and Shipping Review 2023 reports that fire was the second top cause of loss for shipping vessels last year with eight vessels lost and more than 200 incidents reported – the highest in a decade.

Thanks to Dick Kooyman for contributing to this post.