Auto carrier ship burning off Holland now reported to have had nearly 500, not 25 electric vehicles on board

American Thinker ^ | 08/01/2023 | Thomas Lifson

[T.B. Yoits]

At some point the insurers will stop writing policies.

The "green coalition" communists should be sent the bill for the damage to the environment.

They want to push electric cars, let them pay the bills.

[wafflehouse]

what about the environmental impact?

[cpdiii]

Tow it to deep water. The fires will go out when it sinks.

[zeugma]

I wonder how much longer before shipping companies refuse to handle EVs.

In a sane world, it wouldn't be long at all. Unfortunately, sanity is in short supply.

[Noumenon]

If they keep shipping EVs, their freighters will be in short supply.

[Mean Daddy]

Insurance started in the shipping industry. I would expect that shippers will start limiting the number of EVs per shipment & raise rates increasing the costs of EVs.

[Noumenon]

True. That was Lloyd’s of London. But even one bad battery pack is enough to sink the ship. It’s like a giant unquenchable thermite bomb.

[texas booster]

Updated:

BMW AG’s Rolls-Royce has a small number of its exclusive cars aboard the ship that went up in flames off the Dutch coast a week ago.

The maker of €500,000 luxury vehicles is informing affected clients personally, a spokesperson said Wednesday in an email. While both BMW and Mercedes-Benz Group AG confirmed they have several hundred cars on the Fremantle Highway, neither have offered specific breakdowns by brand or model.

Ouch.

[PLMerite]

Dang. They’re going to have to start insisting on EV-only shipments. That’ll at least minimize the collateral damage.

[texas booster]

Maybe Yellow Freight can get back into business as a carrier for LTL specialty auto shipments.

Maybe the first step is to treat all lithium batteries on a boat like UPS does: No air.

Ground only.

(Not sure how to make that work across the Atlantic or Pacific but ...)

OTOH, wonder how much transocean shipping insurance has gone up for EV cars?

If I had bought a McLaren, a Koenigsegg, a Maserati or a Lamborghini, for a couple of million each, I would request a cargo flight.

[Does so]

“They want to push electric cars, let them pay the bills”

With our money...?

[mewzilla]

This is a hoot...

Burning Questions: Unraveling the Truth Behind Electric Vehicle Fires in Maritime Shipping

And note the use of the word "proven".

(chortle)

[mewzilla]

It gets better...

Fremantle Highway blaze throws electric vehicle risk into sharp relief, say insurers Underwriters call for better detection and extinguishing systems to prevent battery fires from spreading

But didn't the IUMI just assert there were no proven cases...?

[Political Junkie Too]

Salt water is a massive conductor of electricity.

Is transporting 500 electric vehicles with their lithium ion batteries at sea with the salty sea air and dampness and water everywhere really a good idea?

-PJ

[mewzilla]

Oh, boy, on the offloading and salvage issues...

The 500 unburned EVs also pose another risk on the Fremantle Highway

Can they even safely offload the damn things...

[Political Junkie Too]

Is it possible that the salt water can cause a short somewhere in the EV that causes the battery to overheat until it catches on fire?

-PJ

[mewzilla]

Totally safe.

Just ask the IUMI.

See my links above.

(snort)

[SauronOfMordor]

All the EV industry needs now is for an EV to catch fire on board a crowded ferry.

[mewzilla]

I’ll just toss this in, from the UK, for a couple of reasons...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12401887/Rochford-fire-Inferno-rips-200-vehicles-Essex-scrapyard-dozens-firefighters-rush-tackle-blaze.html

There were EVs and hybrids on that lot.

The DM never mentions it.