The car freighter “Fremantle Highway”, which burnt out off the Dutch North Sea coast last year, will be transported to China in the next few days.
It will be loaded onto the semi-submersible vessel “Boka Vanguard” owned by the Boskalis shipping company. The car freighter, which now bears the name “Floor”, is to be rebuilt in China.
In August, the Dutch authorities issued an export permit for the ship after a lengthy dispute with the Environmental and Transport Inspectorate. Prior to this, the current owner, Koole Contractors, had removed all the burnt-out parts of the “Fremantle Highway”. Only the hull up to the main deck 5 and the undamaged engine room below, as well as the smokestack, remained after the dismantling.
Car freighter bought for €1
Koole bought the ship in October last year for the symbolic sum of €1 from the Japanese owner Lustre Maritime. The company removed all the car wrecks from onboard and transferred the burnt-out ship to Damen Shipyards in Rotterdam. According to Koole, the ship, which was built in 2013, is technically in order, so a contract was signed with a Chinese shipyard for the sale of the “Fremantle Highway” (IMO 9667344) for a price of €11m. The transportation costs to China alone are expected to be around €5m. The ship is to be rebuilt at a shipyard there in around eight months.
According to Koole, an equivalent newbuild would cost around €160m. Originally, Koole wanted to transfer the ship with the burnt-out deck superstructure to China, but no export license was issued for this, as the responsible inspection authority considered the ship to be waste and this may not be shipped to countries that are not members of the OECD.
“Fremantle Highway” burnt out in July 2023
In October last year, Koole acquired the almost 200-metre-long car freighter, which burned down in July 2023 in the North Sea off the Dutch coast off the island of Ameland on its way from Bremerhaven to Asia with 3,700 cars – including 500 electric cars. One crew member died when he jumped from the ship into the sea; the remaining 16 crew members were rescued by helicopters by the Dutch Coast Guard. There is still no information about the cause of the fire.
The 275 metre long and 70 metre wide heavy-lift cargo ship “Boka Vanguard” (IMO 9618783), which has a transport capacity of 117,000 tons and has now arrived in Rotterdam, is considered to be the largest of its kind. It was primarily designed to pick up offshore installations from the gas and oil industry. The loading of the 300 metre long cruise ship “Carnival Vista” in July 2019, which was shipped to a shipyard on Grand Bahama for the repair of the two Azipod propulsion nacelles, was spectacular. (CE)
