Still selling?
You wouldn’t know it if you saw the largely burnt-out Fremantle Highway, but according to the recovery company there are still quite a few cars on board that have remained relatively undamaged. The question is what will happen to those cars.
A fire has raged for days aboard freighter Fremantle Highway and it looks rather hopeless from the outside for its cargo. Nevertheless, a ‘large number of cars’ on the lower decks of the Fremantle Highway appear to be ‘intact’. That says Richard Janssen, director of salvage company Smit Salvage at the NOS. On Monday, teams from the salvage company inspected the ship from the inside. “It showed, at least from the visual inspection, that the cars are in somewhat or reasonably normal condition.” On the higher decks of the ship “they are so damaged that they are no longer usable in any case,” says Janssen. He emphasizes that the cars will still be viewed by the manufacturers. They will ultimately advise the recovery company what to do with the vehicles.
In the night of Tuesday 25 to Wednesday 26 July, a fire broke out on the ship with 3,784 cars on board. In addition to cars from the Volkswagen Group, it also involved cars from the BMW Group (including Rolls-Royces) and Mercedes-Benz. There would also be some construction cranes on board. One crew member died, others were injured and everyone has since been released from the hospital. The ship has been in Eemshaven since Thursday. Despite the fierce fire that lasted for days, the engine room of the Fremantle Highway is still intact. “That is an important contribution to the considerations that the shipowner will have whether to repair the ship or eventually offer it for recycling,” said Janssen.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl