A ro-ro carrier carrying thousands of luxury cars including Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean and sank near Portugal's Azores on March 2 after burning for a week.
The Felicity Ace, a 656-foot cargo ship owned by merchant ship Mitsui, departed from the port of departure in Emden, Germany, on Feb. 10 and was scheduled to arrive at the port of destination in Daviesville, Rhode Island, on Feb. 23.
But who would have thought the accident would be so sudden? on February 16, a fire broke out in the cargo hold of the ship, which lasted for about a week.
Shortly after the fire, a Portuguese naval patrol boat and four merchant ships responded to the rescue. All 22 crew members on board were rescued, but the Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi and other luxury cars on board were unable to escape and sank into the water at a depth of about 3000 meters.
The freighter was carrying about 4000 new cars, including Volkswagen, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche and Bentley, including 1100 Porsche and Bentley, as well as Audi and Lamborghini, Reuters reported. Bentley alone is worth more than $30 million.
Volkswagen said the damage would be covered by an insurance company. According to the insurance company, the value of the, Felicity Ace is about $30 million, the value of the goods is about $100m, and the insurance cost is expected to reach $155 million.
The cause of the fire is initially suspected to be caused by the lithium battery fire of the electric vehicle. Due to the nature of the fire, water cannot be used to extinguish the fire, because increasing the weight of the ship may make it more unstable, while the traditional water-based fire extinguisher can not stop the burning of lithium-ion batteries. After the fire intensified, the crew chose to abandon ship and escape.
In addition, the freighter carrying nearly 2200 tons of fuel and 2000 tons of oil, there may be fuel leakage and thus pollute the ocean, no leakage has been found so far.
This batch of cars are supplied to North American markets such as the United States and Canada. At present, the US market is in short supply and demand is surging, resulting in a serious shortage of new cars.
For car owners waiting for delivery, their new car, which has been waiting for months, has been "buried at the bottom of the sea," Youtube celebrity Matt tweeted. I just got a call from a dealer. My car is floating at sea and may be burning in the Atlantic Ocean.
A spokesman for the Portuguese navy said that Merchant Shipping Mitsui was trying to find an ocean-going tugboat to tow the freighter to shore.
Some netizens joked to get a car. According to the Maritime Code, the goods will be owned by whoever gets them first, but only if a way to move or tow the boat can be found.
