Ship carrying Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini cars adrift in mid-Atlantic after fire onboard

The Felicity Ace, a big Panama-flagged cargo ship carrying thousands of Volkswagen Group automobiles, caught fire Wednesday afternoon near the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to a Navy statement, the ship's 22 crew members were safely evacuated and transferred to a nearby hotel by the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, which had been dispatched to assist with the rescue mission. The ship itself was abandoned and left afloat.

According to Portuguese naval spokesperson Cmdr José Sousa Lus, the 200-meter-long (650-foot-long) Felicity Ace remained floating near Portugal's Azores Islands after the crew was evacuated off on Wednesday. The Felicity Ace has a cargo capacity of moreover 17,000 metric tonnes (18,700 tonnes). Typically, automotive transport ships can accommodate thousands of vehicles on many decks.

In a brief statement, Volkswagen Group said that Felicity Ace was transporting to the US vehicles that the German automaker produced. The company declined to comment on what consequences the incident might have for US customers or the VW Group. 

According to online vessel trackers, a Portuguese navy ship sailed to the vehicle transporter, which was sailing from Emden in Germany to the port of Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island. The fire was still blazing, according to a naval statement, which displayed an image of massive clouds of white smoke flowing out. Further reports suggest that the naval ship was sent to see if the cargo ship was in risk of sinking or producing pollution.

The ship's owner is looking for an ocean-going tug, but because of its size, the Felicity Ace is unlikely to be towed to a port in Portugal's Azores Islands, according to Sousa Luis. The crew was flown by helicopter to Faial island in the archipelago on Wednesday.

This additional blow comes as the car sector is already dealing with supply chain difficulties such as pandemic labour shortages and semiconductor chip shortages.
It's not the first time the firm has had a shipment go missing at sea. When the Grande America caught fire and sunk in 2019, it took with it nearly 2,000 expensive automobiles, including Audi and Porsche.

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• Audi
• Felicity Ace
• Lamborghini
• Porsche
• Atlantic
• ship on fire