Salvage crews board freighter burning off Dutch coast

Salvage crews have boarded the burning car freighter lying off the Dutch coast for the first time as the flames eased, the coastguard said late on Friday.

The temperature on board the Fremantle Highway had dropped, a coastguard spokeswoman told dpa on Friday. The freighter, loaded with about 3,800 cars, was now lying stable about 17 kilometers north of the island of Terschelling.

The ship is being held in position by a tugboat. Salvage crews briefly boarded the vessel and had established "a new more robust towing connection," the coastguard said.