What Happens to Cars That Survive a Ship Fire?

Often they are scrapped anyway. When Fremantle Highway burned in July 2023, about 1,000 of its roughly 3,784 vehicles came off the lower decks in movable condition. Two Dutch dealers then bought 260 of the surviving BMWs from the cargo insurer for €5.1 million, and BMW went to court to stop them being sold. In January 2026 the Hague Court of Appeal upheld BMW's seizure of the cars.

That outcome matters to anyone who prices or owns vehicle cargo. Salvage value is part of every cargo claim: whatever the surviving cars can be sold for comes off the payout. If new branded vehicles cannot be resold, even when they look perfect, a partial loss behaves like a total one. Who controls that decision is a commercial and legal question, not a technical one.

How many cars survive a car-carrier fire?

It depends almost entirely on where the fire went and whether the ship stayed afloat. On Fremantle Highway the damage split by deck. Boskalis, the salvor, reported that the lower four of 12 decks were relatively undamaged, while cars on the upper decks had fused to the steel. The roughly 500 electric vehicles aboard were mostly on those lower decks and were described as "perfectly movable".

Other casualties left nothing to save. Felicity Ace sank in 2022 and Morning Midas sank in June 2025, taking their entire cargoes with them. Höegh Xiamen was declared a total loss in 2020, ship and 2,420 used vehicles together, valued at $40 million. Golden Ray capsized in 2019 with more than 4,100 vehicles aboard, and the cars were cut up with the hull and barged to a recycling yard in Louisiana.

What has to happen before a surviving car leaves the ship?

Decontamination, sorting and a separate route off the ship for anything with a battery. At Eemshaven, every vehicle on Fremantle Highway was washed on board to remove firefighting residue and soot, and the wash water was kept on the ship for controlled disposal. Undamaged petrol and hybrid cars were driven off through a side ramp. Damaged vehicles and electric vehicles were lifted off by crane in steel bins. At least one electric car caught fire during removal and was knocked down with water spray and then covered with a tarpaulin.

The cars that came off clean were parked in a protected area of the port. From that point, as Dutch reporting at the time put it, their fate was a matter for the cargo owners and inspectors. That handover is where the real decision gets made, and it is rarely made by the people who carried out the salvage.

Why a car that looks perfect can still be written off

Because the damage that matters may not be visible, and the manufacturer will not vouch for it. Smoke from burning plastics and cable insulation carries hydrogen chloride. Once that acid settles on a surface with some moisture, it attacks copper contacts and circuit boards, and the corrosion can develop over days or weeks after the fire. That is the finding of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's literature review on smoke and electrical equipment. A modern car carries dozens of control units, and its traction battery may have been heat-soaked in a way no walk-round inspection can measure.

BMW's case rested on exactly that uncertainty. According to Dutch press coverage of the 2025 ruling, it argued the cars had been exposed to toxic gases and extreme heat, could not be sold as new, and might carry hidden defects. The cars had also been built to a Taiwanese specification, which differs from the European one, emissions standards included. The dealers answered that the 260 cars had been on a deck with no fire and no firefighting water, showed only minor soot marks and had passed inspections. The court sided with BMW.

Who decides: the insurer, the buyer or the carmaker?

In practice the brand owner, and the Fremantle Highway rulings show how. The cargo insurer sold the salvaged BMWs, which is the normal way an insurer recovers value from a partial loss. BMW then seized the cars and, according to Dutch coverage, a court blocked their sale in July 2024. The penalty was €250,000 for each car sold, up to €50 million. The Hague Court of Appeal upheld the seizure on 20 January 2026 (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:55).

The appeal ruling turned on two points that will recur on any car carrier calling in Europe. First, BMW still legally owned part of the shipment under a retention-of-title clause. Second, the cars had stayed under T1 customs transit status and had never been released into free circulation in the EU, so BMW's trademark rights had not been exhausted. Offering them for sale in the EU was therefore a threatened infringement. The main proceedings remain open, but on the reasoning so far, a carmaker can keep salvaged new cars out of the EU market altogether.

What it means for owners, cargo interests and underwriters

Treat surviving new vehicles as worth close to nothing until a manufacturer says otherwise. For cargo underwriters, a brand clause on an automotive account turns a deck-limited fire into something near a total cargo loss, and that should be in the rate. Cargo interests should remember that saved cargo can still be called on to contribute if general average is declared, even if it is later destroyed. For shipowners and charterers, the Fremantle Highway split by deck is the useful lesson. Cars survived on decks the fire did not reach, so every deck kept clear of fire is cargo that still has a value. That depends on detecting the fire while it is still confined to one vehicle and one deck.

Sources

• 1. The Maritime Executive — "Salvage Completed on Fire-Damaged Car Carrier Fremantle Highway" (8 September 2023): about 1,000 vehicles removed; manifest of 3,784 vehicles including heavy equipment, 498 electric or hybrid; upper-deck cars charred and melted into the decks; all vehicles washed on board with wash water contained; undamaged petrol and hybrid vehicles driven off via a side ramp, damaged vehicles and EVs craned off in steel bins; at least one EV caught fire during removal, suppressed with water spray and a tarpaulin; Boskalis and Multraship led the salvage. The Maritime Executive — "Salvage of Fire-Damaged Fremantle Highway Car Carrier Moves to Rotterdam".
• 2. Automotive Logistics and InsideEVs — "EVs 'in good condition' after Fremantle Highway ro-ro fire" (August 2023): Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski: lower four of 12 decks relatively undamaged; about 500 EVs among roughly 1,000 vehicles that "seem to be in good condition" and are "perfectly movable"; upper four decks fused with the cars. NL Times, 19 August 2023: cars parked in a protected area of the port after washing, with their fate then up to the cargo owner and inspectors.
• 3. Gerechtshof Den Haag (Hague Court of Appeal), 20 January 2026, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:55 (summary at boek9.nl, IEPT20260120): 260 BMW vehicles salvaged from Fremantle Highway; seizure upheld; BMW retained title to part of the shipment; vehicles kept T1 (non-Union) status and were never released into free circulation, so no exhaustion of Union trademark and design rights; offering them for sale was a threatened infringement; main proceedings pending. Automotive Online (NL), 23 January 2026, on the appeal outcome.
• 4. TopGear NL — ruling that the 260 Fremantle Highway BMWs must be destroyed and may not be sold: buyers paid €5.1 million to the cargo insurer; cars built to a Taiwanese specification; BMW's arguments (toxic gases, extreme heat, cannot be sold as new, hidden defects, different emissions standards); dealers' arguments (deck without fire or water exposure, minor soot, inspections passed).
• 5. RTV Noord, Automotive Online (16 July 2024) and WorldCargo News (16 July 2024, paywalled): court blocks sale of the BMWs; BMW sought a preliminary injunction in December 2023; penalty of €250,000 per car sold, up to €50 million.
• 6. US NTSB — Marine Accident Report on the capsizing of Golden Ray (NTSB MAR-21/04) and NTSB investigation DCA20FM020: more than 4,100 vehicles aboard; wreck and cargo cut into sections and barged to a Louisiana recycling facility. Höegh Xiamen total loss of $40 million including 2,420 used vehicles (NTSB). Both are covered with their sources in the linked case studies.
• 7. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission — "A Literature Review of the Effects of Smoke from a Fire on Electrical Equipment" (ADAMS ML12185A086): hydrogen chloride from burning PVC and cable insulation; corrosion of copper conductors and circuit boards when acidic deposits meet moisture; damage developing after the fire.
• 8. Marine cargo brand/trademark clause wording (market clause, not an Institute clause): branded salvage not to be sold without the insured's consent, with salvage value deducted if consent is refused, or costs of brand removal or destruction covered.