According to the operator of the freighter carrying the car that caught fire off the coast of the Netherlands, there are about 500 electric cars on board, many more than previously reported.

According to the Dutch Coast Guard, the cause of the fire on the Fremantle Highway is still unknown. Which previously said that the initial cargo list they received showed that there were only 25 EVs on board. The Coast Guard denied reports that confirmed the fire was in the part of the carrier where the electric cars were housed.

Should electric vehicles have anything to do with fires, the number onboard is related to what is likely to take several days of trying to extinguish it. Lithium-ion battery fires burn hotter than gasoline ones and burn longer. It can also be difficult to extinguish them. Sometimes they flare up again after a few hours or even days after being extinguished.

According to the ship's charterer, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the ship carries a total of 3,783 vehicles, including 498 electric cars. The fire was still on and the situation was stable as of Friday. Dutch authorities have established a towing connection with the vessel. But have not been able to extinguish the fire as pouring too much water on the ship can cause stability problems.

Representatives of the companies have said that there are several hundred BMW AG (BMW AG) cars on board. There are also about 300 Mercedes-Benz Group AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG) vehicles as well. The Panama-flagged Fremantle Highway ship was on its way to Egypt's Port Said after a recent stop in the German port of Bremerhaven, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Shui Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese company that owns the ship, said the ship's final destination was Singapore. The company also owned Ever Given, the giant container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal in March 2021.