According to the company, its ships lack the necessary equipment to put out a lithium-ion battery fire at sea, as reported by Car Scoops.
Primary consideration
One of the two shipping firms operating between the coastal cities of Bergen and Kierkenes in Norway, Havila Krystruten, has announced that as a consequence of an independent inquiry, it will no longer transport electric or electrical automobiles on its ships.
On the route, the corporation mostly transports people and products, but it has since announced that it will only transport private cars with internal combustion engines. Havila Krystruten stated that the primary consideration in its choice was fire safety.
External review
Although it is unclear what prompted the corporation to conduct the external review, a recent incident in the Atlantic may have contributed to the company’s decision. Although the source of the fire on board the Felicity Ace last year has not been identified, there were vehicles with batteries on board, raising the possibility that they may have been the cause of the flames.
Havila Krystruten cited its ships’ firefighting skills as the rationale for its choice rather than the fact that, on average, internal combustion vehicles catch fire more frequently than electric vehicles.
Risk analysis
According to Google’s translation of Bent Martini, the company’s managing director, “This is a pure safety study, and the outcome of the risk analysis demonstrates that a potential fire in fossil vehicles will be able to be managed by the systems and the crew we have on board.” “A potential fire in an electric, hybrid, or hydrogen vehicle will call for outside rescue attempts and might endanger the lives of those inside as well as the ships.”
Norway, one of the world’s major customers of electric vehicles, is where the issue is most notable. By 2022, more than 80% of all new cars sold in the nation would be entirely electric, making this choice likely to annoy passengers.
Crucial business
After questions regarding whether or not the ships would be able to carry any automobiles at all, the shipping business earlier acknowledged that the transportation of vehicles on its ships was crucial, according to NRK.
According to previous managing director Arild Myrvoll, “We realise how vital [transporting vehicles] is for communities along the shore and for travellers.” Because of this, we have made this part of the deal that Havila Kystruten will make.
In the future, Havila Krystruten said it will look into measures to reduce the risk associated with moving electric and hybrid automobiles. Hurtigruten, the only other shipping company operating on the route, has stated that it will keep transporting private cars on its ships regardless of their propulsion system.
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Source: Car Scoops
