by Lloyd's List

24 February 2025 (Lloyd's List) - A SECOND Grimaldi ro-ro cargoship is believed to have suffered a fire incident on a ro-ro deck in recent days, following the fire which occurred on Grimaldi’s Grande Brasile (IMO: 9198123) in the North Sea last Tuesday, February 18.

The 47,600 gt Grande Congo (IMO: 9437921) was reported by several sources to have had a fire while in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Bermuda on Friday, February 21.

The 2010-built ship had sailed from the Spanish port of Valencia and was bound for the US east coast.

According to its Automatic Identification System transmission the ship has since arrived at Newport News. Grimaldi has been approached for comment.

The incident follows the fire which broke out aboard Grimaldi’s 56,000 gt Grande Brasile last week in the North Sea.

The 2000-built Grande Brasile was taken under tow and is expected to be berthed shortly at the the port of Antwerp following damage caused by two fires which started on the vessel’s vehicle decks.

All 28 crew members were evacuated from the vessel and taken to Ramsgate where they were met by local first aid services. All crew members arrived safely with no injuries reported by the vessel’s owner.

With main engine power having been lost, the vessel was taken under tow by the Netherlands-based salvage tug Multratug 35 (IMO: 9964039).

The 2000-built Grande Brasile was on passage from Antwerp to Le Havre at the time of the incident and is deployed on Grimaldi’s northern Europe to West Africa liner service.

Grimaldi ships have suffered several serious fire incidents in recent years.

In July 2023, Grimaldi’s 48,000 gt ro-ro cargoship Grande Costa D’Avorio (IMO: 9465382) suffered a fire while alongside at the port of New York/New Jersey.

The fire was understood to have been caused by a faulty battery in a secondhand car which had been loaded at the port and caused the death of two firefighters and injured six others.

In February 2023, fire broke out on a car deck on board Grimaldi’s 7,000 ceu pure car and truck carrier Grande California (IMO: 9796377) off the coast of Spain. The fire was later extinguished utilising the vessel’s onboard CO2 firefighting system.

Four years prior to the Grande California incident, Grimaldi’s 56,000 gt ro-ro cargoship Grande America (IMO: 9130937) sank following a serious fire which broke out in a container on the vessel’s upper deck which later spread while the ship was sailing off the west coast of France. All personnel on board were evacuated safely.

Other serious incidents on board large ro-ro type vessels included July 2023’s fire on K Line’s Fremantle Highway (IMO: 9667344).

The 6,200 ceu Fremantle Highway had departed from the port of Bremerhaven when fire broke out aboard the ship which was loaded with 4,000 cars, including 498 electric cars fitted with lithium-ion batteries. One crew member died following a failed attempt to extinguish the fire using the vessel’s onboard fire-extinguishing systems.

In 2022 the Mitsui OSK Lines-operated, 6,400 ceu, Felicity Ace (IMO: 9293911) sank off the Azores following a catastrophic fire. Some industry observers believe that electric vehicles on board were a contributing factor in the rapid spread of the fire on board the vessel.

The transport of electric cars in ro-ro ships has come under the spotlight in recent years, especially from the insurance industry, due to the increasing number of high-profile fires on vehicle carriers, ro-pax ferries and ro-ro cargoships.

Neverthless, shipowners of such vessels have previously stated that electric cars pose no greater risk than any other vehicle type.

But most vehicle carrier operators have introduced restrictions on electric vehicle lithium-ion battery charging to a maximum of 30%, as a lower state of charge will mean it takes longer for a battery to go into thermal runaway, should a fire occur. Previously, such batteries were typically charged at up to 70%.

Thermal runaway is caused when high temperatures create a chemical reaction within a lithium-ion cell, which results in an uncontrollable self-heating state.

The sector’s biggest concern appears to be the carriage of secondhand internal combustion engine vehicles with several major casualties said to have been caused by old cars, with damaged conventional batteries, being shipped to developing countries.

Only one incident on board a ro-ro type vessel has so far been officially proven to have been caused by an electric vehicle and occurred on board a DFDS-owned ro-pax in 2010.