TOKYO — A Bahamas-registered freighter carrying 3,885 motor vehicles, which ran aground in October on Izu-Oshima Island south of Tokyo, caught fire Tuesday morning was still burning Tuesday night, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The 56,835-ton Hual Europe caught fire around 5:30 a.m. at the place it ran aground at Habu port on the island, around 110 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, coast guard officials said.
The coast guard dispatched three patrol boats and a helicopter to the site after receiving a report on the fire from a cargo vessel passing by the site, but the patrol boats have been unable to get near the ship because it lies in shallow waters near the shore.
The fire may have broken out as a result of sparks from the ship's steel body or the vehicles generated by friction as the vessel was rocked by high waves. The sparks could then have ignited vaporized gasoline around the vehicles, maritime industry sources said.
Most of the vehicles aboard the ship are new cars and worth about 10 billion yen.
The 56,835-ton Hual Europe caught fire around 5:30 a.m. at the place it ran aground at Habu port on the island, around 110 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, coast guard officials said.
The coast guard dispatched three patrol boats and a helicopter to the site after receiving a report on the fire from a cargo vessel passing by the site, but the patrol boats have been unable to get near the ship because it lies in shallow waters near the shore.
The fire may have broken out as a result of sparks from the ship's steel body or the vehicles generated by friction as the vessel was rocked by high waves. The sparks could then have ignited vaporized gasoline around the vehicles, maritime industry sources said.
Most of the vehicles aboard the ship are new cars and worth about 10 billion yen.