Zeebrugge (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A fire broke out on the cargo ship Delphine in Zeebrugge, damaging about 100 of 260 electric cars. Firefighters used nitrogen gas. Mayor Dirk De Fauw confirmed days of cleanup ahead.
On Wednesday, April 16, 2025, an afternoon fire took place in the Delphine cargo vessel carrying 260 electric cars on board. It was during this time that the fire broke out as the vessel lay at mooring at Brittanniadok terminal, Zeebrugge, West Flanders province, Belgium. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the fire, and by evening, it was brought under their control.
Officials said that the smoke within the ship was extremely heavy, difficult to see through and hazardous to inhale. Special-suited and breathing apparatus-clad firefighters managed to penetrate inside the ship and discovered that approximately 100 electric vehicles were destroyed.
How did a fire on the ship Delphine threaten 100 EVs in Zeebrugge?
According to the firefighters, even after the flames were stopped, the inside of the ship was still very hot, between 60 and 100 degrees Celsius. This was a big problem because opening the ship to air could cause any remaining fire to start again.
Electric car batteries can get very hot and cause more fires. To stop this, firefighters used nitrogen gas to fill the ship. Nitrogen is a gas that doesn’t burn and helps to stop fire by taking away the oxygen.
“There will be another meeting this morning, and then we will measure the temperature in the room again. If it is low enough and there are no more traces of the fire, then we can slowly start ventilating the room,”
Says Mayor and chairman of the port, Dirk De Fauw (CD&V).
The fire on the ship Delphine is not over yet. The fire is out, but the damaged cars are still on the ship and can’t be taken off right away. Port officials say they need to carefully plan how to remove the wreckage. They want to make sure it’s safe and that the fire doesn’t start again.
They mentioned that the cars can’t be taken off until it’s safe. The deck above the damaged cars is also full of trailers. These trailers need to be removed first before the damaged cars can be taken off. This will take a long time.
“It is not a matter of hours, but rather of days before all the cars are out of the hold and the trailers are back on shore,”
Says De Fauw.
No one was injured in the fire on the ship Delphine. Everyone on the ship was safely taken off. The ship’s captain stayed on the ship to help firefighters and other emergency workers. The fire didn’t affect the rest of the port of Zeebrugge. The port continued working normally.
Tim Weekes, spokesman for CLdN, formerly Cobelfret, says,
“The ship’s captain also stayed on board the entire time to monitor the situation together with the fire department and emergency services.”
