Cargo ship carrying thousands of luxury cars to U.S. sinks in Atlantic Ocean

A large cargo ship carrying luxury cars from Germany to the United States sank on Tuesday in the middle of the Atlantic, 13 days after a fire broke out on board, said the manager of the ship and the Portuguese navy. Cars aboard the Felicity Ace included Porsche, Lamborghinis and Bentley, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Volkswagen, which said last week that vehicle damage was covered by insurance, confirmed that the ship had sunk. Insurance experts say the incident could result in losses of $ 155 million, Reuters reported.

The Felicity Ace sank about 250 miles off the Portuguese Azores while towed, MOL Ship Management said in Singapore in a statement. A rescue team had put out the blaze.

The 200-meter-long boat pointed to starboard before disembarking, the ship’s manager said.

Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the nearest port on the island of Faial Island, told Reuters that the ship sank when efforts to tow it began due to structural problems caused by fire and rough seas.

“When the trailer started … water started coming in,” he told Reuters. “The ship lost its stability and sank.”

The Portuguese navy confirmed the sinking, saying it occurred outside Portuguese waters at a depth of about 30,000 feet. A Portuguese Air Force helicopter evacuated all 22 crew members when the fire broke out, leaving the ship adrift.

Ocean tugs with firefighting equipment had been dragging the hull of the ship to cool it.

It was not clear exactly how many cars were on board, but Felicity Ace-sized ships can carry at least 4,000 vehicles.

European carmakers declined to discuss how many vehicles and models were on board, but their dealers contacted Porsche customers in the United States, the company said.

“We are already working to replace all the cars affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, vice president of public relations for Porsche Cars North America, Inc., told The Associated Press in an email.

The ship was carrying electric and non-electric vehicles, according to Portuguese authorities. The suspicion of what caused the fire on February 16 has fallen on the lithium batteries used in electric vehicles, although authorities say they have no firm evidence of the cause.

Authorities feared the ship could be polluting the ocean. The ship was carrying 2,000 metric tons of fuel and 2,000 metric tons of oil. It can carry more than 17,000 metric tons of cargo.

The Portuguese navy said in a statement that only a few remains were seen and a small piece of oil where the ship fell. The tugs were breaking the patch with hoses, he said.

A Portuguese Air Force plane and a Portuguese Navy ship will remain at the scene in search of signs of pollution.

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• cargo ship
• Portugal
• Volkswagen