The crew; the Italian captain and two officers who were in the Grande Arra Grande Europe of the Grimaldi Group, who suffered a fire in May, appeared before a court in Valencia, Spain, for alleged fires.
The ship burst into flames about 25 nautical miles from Mallorca, Spain, while traveling from Salerno to Valencia in mid-May.
According to the Nautilus International maritime union, the three officers strongly deny the accusation of having fired two fires on the ship. The bond was set at 9,000 euros for the captain and 5,000 euros each for the other two officers.
The Grimaldi Group said earlier that the large fire on the ship was probably caused by the batteries of two new cars on board, which fueled concerns about the risks posed by hybrid and electric vehicle shipments.
He said the preliminary investigations “suggest that the two fires started from two different new vehicles on board and then spread to the other nearby units.”
In addition to the Grande Europa case, fires on two other Grimaldi vessels in the past eight months, Cruise Ausonia and Grande America, are still under investigation.
