Ship Carrying 1,100 Porsches, Bentley And Other Luxury Cars Is Burning And Adrift in Atlantic

A cargo ship carrying luxury cars was left adrift in the Atlantic Ocean after it caught on fire on Thursday.

Felicity Ace fire, atlantic ocean, cargo ship on fire, cargo ship fire — The huge vessel's 22 crew members were evacuated due to the blaze burning car transport ship drifted near the mid-Atlantic Azores Islands. (Photo: Twitter)

New Delhi: A cargo ship carrying luxury cars was left adrift in the Atlantic Ocean after it caught fire on Thursday. The huge vessel which had 22 crew members were evacuated due to the blaze while the burning car transport ship ‘Felicity Ace’ drifted near the mid-Atlantic Azores Islands. The ship was sailing from Emden in Germany to the port of Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island, according to online vessel trackers.

Shipping in the area was warned that the 200-meter-long (650-feet-long) Felicity Ace was adrift after the crew was taken off on Wednesday, Portuguese navy spokesman Cmdr. José Sousa Luís said, according to a report by Associated Press.

The Felicity Ace can carry more than 17,000 metric tons (18,700 tons) of cargo. Typically, car transport ships carry thousands of vehicles on multiple decks in their hold. The ship’s operator, Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said in an email to the AP it could not provide information about the cargo or its client.

However, Porsche had confirmed that few of its cars were present on board the cargo ship, according to the CNN report. “While it remains too early to confirm what occurred and next steps, we are — along with our colleagues at Porsche AG — supporting our customers and our dealers as best we can to find solutions. We are in contact with the shipping company and the details of the cars onboard are now known,” Angus Fitton, Vice President of PR at Porsche Cars North America was quoted as saying in the CNN report.

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Besides Porsche, Bentley and other luxury cars were reportedly part of the cargo. A Portuguese navy ship sailed to the vehicle transporter, which was on a transatlantic voyage from Germany to the United States. A navy statement said the fire was still burning and showed a photograph of large clouds of white smoke billowing out.

Just south of Portugal’s Azores archipelago. pic.twitter.com/a7AS8yvIgG

— Sam (@Samir_Madani) February 17, 2022

The Portuguese Air Force has released video of the rescue of the crew aboard the Felicity Ace, which is now ablaze and adrift in the Atlantic.@ChristineEliaz @Anonymo12869076 @UncleZoGunTales @SM4Tech @BucksGirl3 @candymh46 @RDavisJ1 @HotepDadMax @VegasStrong702 @JudasDubois pic.twitter.com/e1WAOBp6FK

— Clarque Shadows (@ClarqueAllen) February 17, 2022

#Repost @salvage_and_wreck
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Rescue ongoing after cargo ship catches fire in mid-Atlantic, February 16 2021. The #FELICITYACE sounded the alarm after a fire broke out in the hold. Wednesday, Portugal's said 22 crew members were being evacuated from a large cargo ship pic.twitter.com/hqHMZ9fovw

— MarioDeFenza (@MarioDeFenza) February 17, 2022

The navy ship was to check whether the cargo vessel was in danger of sinking or causing pollution, Sousa Luís told The Associated Press.

The ship’s owner is seeking an ocean-going tug, but the Felicity Ace is unlikely to be towed to a port in Portugal’s Azores Islands because of its size, he said. The crew were taken by helicopter to Faial island on the archipelago, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) away, and are staying at a hotel there. None of them was hurt.

(With inputs from AP)