EV suspected of causing container fire

The container ship, 4,250 TEU Luna Maersk, was travelling between the port of Piraeus to Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea when fire was reported by crew members, who managed to contain the fire but returned to Piraeus.

A firefighting vessel was also called out to assist, but it is believed that the fire did not spread to other containers.

According to media reports, the bill of lading said a used EV was in the container that caught fire.

The transport of electric vehicles has raised concerns in recent years because their lithium batteries are extremely difficult to put out, often re-igniting even after being extinguished.

However, the data don’t all agree that fires in EVs are more common than in other kinds of vehicle.

In November 2022, Autoinsurance EZ published a report of its findings after consulting data from the National Transportation Safety Board and Bureau of Transportation Studies in the US – and figures show that in fact hybrid vehicles experience more fires than internal combustion engine cars, and electric vehicles experience the lowest number.

“Hybrid vehicles actually come in number one with the most fires per 100K sales,” Autoiinsurance EZ concluded. “Gas vehicles are second, and electric vehicles place third, with only 25 fires per 100K electric vehicle sales.

“Based on this data, electric vehicles don’t catch fire nearly as much as the news claims. Hybrid cars seem to be the most dangerous for fires, followed by gas vehicles.”

In March 2022 the car carrier Felicity Ace caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Germany to the US and sank.

It has never been confirmed what the cause of fire was, but if lithium battery-powered vehicles had not started it they certainly could have sustained it. Up to 4,000 top-end vehicles, including electric ones, were being transported.