Boskalis’s Boka Vanguard, the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy transport vessel, has arrived in Rotterdam to pick up Floor, the car carrier formerly known as the Fremantle Highway. The vessel, which was involved in a fire in 2023, will be transported to China for further repairs and modifications before returning to service.
The Fremantle Highway was a car carrier of a Japanese owner, sailing under the Panamese flag. While en route from Bremerhaven with a final destination of Singapore, a fire broke out around midnight on the night of 25-26 July 2023. The ship was sailing about 27 kilometres north of the Ameland at the time. It was carrying nearly 3800 new cars, including some 500 electric ones, according to the shipowner.
The crew could not extinguish the fire. One crew member died and several were injured. All crew had to be evacuated from the ship and it took until 1 August before the fire was extinguished. Owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha contracted Boskalis‘ subsidiary Smit Salvage and Multraship to salvage the vessel.
Together, they managed to stabilise the vessel and get the fire under control after which it was towed into the port of Eemshaven in the north of the Netherlands. It arrived there on 3 August.
To China for repairs
Koole Contractors bought the Fremantle Highway in October and renamed it Floor to ready it for repairs and onselling it. To do so, it was moved to Damen Shiprepair in Rotterdam to carry out the clean up works.
According to local news site RTV Noord, ILT initially refused to issue an export licence because it classified the ship as waste. The inspectorate has now backtracked on that, allowing the vessel to leave with the Boka Vanguard to China. According to RTV Noord, the Floor’s new owner is the Qingshan Shipyard Group, which will finish the ship at a repair yard in Xiamen.
Also read: DCMR: No hindrance expected from Fremantle Highway being in Rotterdam
Cause of the fire still unknown
The Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) says that officially, no cause of the fire has been announced (yet). Following a Freedom of Information request from the Dutch newspaper Dagblad van het Noorden, it was revealed that there had been a powerful explosion on board. What caused that explosion is not known.
The investigation into the fire aboard the cargo ship is led by Panamanian authorities as they are the vessel’s flag state. The Dutch Safety Board is cooperating with Panama in that investigation. Alongside this investigation, the Dutch Safety Board is conducting an exploratory investigation into the emergency response.
Picture: The Boka Vanguard has arrived in Rotterdam to transport the Floor to China (photo by Boskalis).
Also read: Dutch Safety Board investigates emergency response Fremantle Highway