عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Burning Cargo Ship off Dutch Coast Will Be Towed to a New Location after Flames and Smoke Subsided

A boat hoses the smoke from a fire which broke out on a freight ship in the North Sea, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Kustwacht Nederland/Coast Guard Netherlands via AP)
A boat hoses the smoke from a fire which broke out on a freight ship in the North Sea, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Kustwacht Nederland/Coast Guard Netherlands via AP)
TT
20
TT

Burning Cargo Ship off Dutch Coast Will Be Towed to a New Location after Flames and Smoke Subsided

A boat hoses the smoke from a fire which broke out on a freight ship in the North Sea, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Kustwacht Nederland/Coast Guard Netherlands via AP)
A boat hoses the smoke from a fire which broke out on a freight ship in the North Sea, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of the Dutch island of Ameland, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Kustwacht Nederland/Coast Guard Netherlands via AP)

Salvage crews were preparing Saturday to tow a car-carrying cargo ship that has been burning for days to an anchor point in the North Sea after flames and smoke on board subsided, the Dutch government said.
Fire erupted in the Fremantle Highway late Tuesday night near a chain of islands in the northern Netherlands and has been blazing ever since. The ship is carrying 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles, the company that chartered the vessel said.
One crew member died and others were injured after the fire broke out on the ship that was heading from Bremerhaven in Germany to Singapore. The crew was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday. The cause of the fire has not been established, The Associated Press said.
Measurements Friday showed that heat, flames and smoke had subsided enough for salvage experts to board the ship for the first time and establish a strong towing connection with a tugboat, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said.
It will be towed, likely over the weekend, to a new position 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of the island of Schiermonnikoog , the ministry said in a statement. The timing of the operation that is expected to take 12-14 hours depends on smoke development and weather, the ministry added. The aim is ultimately “once conditions on board allow,” to tow the ship to a port, though the destination has not yet been decided.
The ministry said the ship is stable and intact below the waterline.
The burning vessel is close to the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed area that is considered one of the world’s most significant habitats for migratory birds. It’s also near the Netherlands’ border with Germany, whose environment minister, Steffi Lemke, has warned of "an environmental catastrophe of unknown proportions,” if the ship were to sink.

Most Viewed

 
World

Modi Says India Has Only Paused Military Action after It and Pakistan Stop Firing at Each Other

A man assesses the damage of a house after it was hit in an Indian strike, following the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Jura village in Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
A man assesses the damage of a house after it was hit in an Indian strike, following the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Jura village in Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Modi Says India Has Only Paused Military Action after It and Pakistan Stop Firing at Each Other

A man assesses the damage of a house after it was hit in an Indian strike, following the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Jura village in Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
A man assesses the damage of a house after it was hit in an Indian strike, following the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Jura village in Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)

India has only "paused" its military action and will "retaliate on its own terms" if there is any future terror attack on the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday in his first public comments since a US-brokered ceasefire over the weekend.

Modi spoke after Indian and Pakistani authorities said there was no firing reported overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries — the first time in recent days the nations were not shooting at each other.

The escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals after a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir had threatened regional peace. India accused Pakistan of backing the militants who carried out the massacre, a charge Islamabad denied.

"We will be monitoring every step of Pakistan," Modi said in an address to the nation. He added, in response to international calls for dialogue, that if India talks to Pakistan, it will be only about terrorism and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Both nations administer parts of Kashmir but claim it in its entirety.

"Terror and talks can’t go together. Nor can terror and trade," Modi said.

He did not acknowledge US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate. India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea on Saturday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, for his part, said his country agreed to the ceasefire "in the spirit of peace" but will never tolerate violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He spoke during a meeting with the Turkish ambassador, according to a government statement.

Senior military officials from India and Pakistan spoke via a hotline on Monday to assess if the ceasefire was holding and how to ensure implementation.

The Indian army in a statement said the officials discussed the commitment of not "firing a single shot" or initiating aggressive action. The two sides agreed to consider taking immediate measures to reduce the number of troops in border and forward areas, it said.

"The night remained largely peaceful across Jammu and Kashmir, and other areas along the international border," the Indian army said, adding that no incidents had been reported.

Local government officials in Pakistan-administered Kashmir reported no incidents of cross-border firing along the Line of Control — the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan — and said civilians displaced by recent skirmishes were returning to their homes.

Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, said late Sunday that Pakistan remains committed to upholding the ceasefire and will not be the first to violate it.

Soon after the ceasefire announcement, Pakistan reopened all airports and restored flight operations. India on Monday reopened the 32 airports that were shut temporarily across its northern and western regions.

The countries' militaries had been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the massacre of 26 tourists last month in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The tourists, mostly Indian Hindu men, were killed in front of their families.

The incident first led to tit-for-tat diplomatic measures. The countries expelled each other’s diplomats, shut their airspace and land borders and suspended a crucial water treaty.

After Wednesday's strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fire in Kashmir followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases. Dozens of civilians were killed on both sides, the two countries said.

The Indian military on Sunday for the first time claimed its strikes into Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan last week killed more than 100 militants, including prominent leaders.

Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai, the director general of India’s military operations, said India’s armed forces struck nine militant infrastructure and training facilities, including sites of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group that India blames for carrying out major militant strikes in India.

Ghai also said at least 35 to 40 Pakistani soldiers were killed in clashes along the Line of Control. Five Indian soldiers were also killed, he said.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday said his country’s armed forces had killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers along the Line of Control. Pakistani military also claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets and inflected heavy losses on Indian military installations by targeting 26 locations in India.

The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims made by India and Pakistan.

Air Chief Marshal AK Bharti, the director general India’s air operations, told a news conference on Monday that despite "minor damage (s) incurred, all our military bases and air defense systems continue to remain fully operational, and ready to undertake any further missions, should the need so arise."

Bharti reiterated that New Delhi’s fight was "with terrorists, and not with Pakistan military or its civilians."