Salvage companies began disembarking cars from the burnt-out freighter Fremantle Highway on Saturday morning.
The vehicles are removed from the ship via an installed car wash, recovery companies Boskalis and Multraship report via a spokesperson.
The washing of the cars is still done on board for environmental reasons. For example, the washing water is collected and disposed of afterwards, according to the salvage companies.
After the cars have passed the mobile car wash, they are disembarked and parked in a specially protected area in the port. From that moment on, it is up to the owner of the cargo and the inspectors to determine what happens to the cars, the spokesman said.
Men in white suits
Saturday morning preparations started. Men in white suits are walking on the deck of the ship and on the dock. The tailgate of the ship has been cleaned. Small forklifts drive in and out of the ship. At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, no cars had yet been removed from the ship.
There are two large cranes from Wagenborg Nedlift in front of the ship. The work attracts a lot of attention. Some 35 spectators drop by to catch a glimpse of the salvage operations.
Operation of more than a week
Boskalis and Multraship expect the entire operation to take more than a week. During that period they want to disembark all cars from the lower four decks.
Earlier it became clear that about a thousand vehicles on these decks still appear to be in good condition. The upper decks are badly damaged and many cars that were parked there have merged with the decks.
The cause of the fire is still not clear. As salvage companies, Boskalis and Multraship do not want to make any statements about this either, the spokesperson said. The fire on the freighter broke out in the night of Tuesday 25 to Wednesday 26 July. One person was killed and several injured.
There were a total of 23 people on board, 22 of whom had Indian nationality. The ship was carrying 3,784 cars, nearly 500 of which were electric.