A SPATE of recent fires on board ships carrying electric cars have prompted a rush to boost the protection of vessels, with a regulatory official warning that growing exports of battery powered vehicles pose a significant safety risk.

Head of safety at the UN's International Maritime Organization, Heike Deggim, said member states would draw up new rules next spring for shipping groups that transport vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Industry participants said shipowners were also looking to redesign car carriers, upgrade fire prevention measures and mitigate the threat to lives and global trade posed by the batteries, whose flames can be harder to keep extinguished than those caused by conventional vehicles, reports London's Financial Times.

Ms Deggim said shipping faced a "huge problem" as more goods containing lithium-ion batteries were transported by sea, with electric models making up about 14 per cent of car sales in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

"Lithium batteries have been recognized as potentially hazardous when it comes to fire risk," she told the Financial Times. "So we need to ensure that the regulations take into account those risks."

Her comments follow recent fires on board electric-car carriers. In July, one crew member died following a blaze off the Dutch coast on a ship reportedly carrying thousands of cars, including several electric vehicles. An investigation into the cause of the fire has begun, according to the Dutch coastguard.

On all types of ships, the number of fires reported last year increased 17 per cent to 209, the highest level for a decade, according to a report published in May by Allianz. The insurer warned that hazardous cargoes were increasingly being transported on larger vessels, deepening potential financial losses and delays to trade.

"Firefighting [is] very difficult" on modern car carriers, said Richard Gunn, a casualty lawyer at law firm Reed Smith, who added that ships tended to be built with several decks that were built as low as possible to maximize the number of vehicles that could be carried on board.

Ms Deggim said she expected member states to develop "special requirements" for ships carrying electric cars at a subcommittee meeting in March, after a number of them raised concerns with the IMO. Any new standards would then need to be approved by the organisation's safety committee.

Shipowners could face growing pressure from clients to make these kinds of upgrades.