LISBON – A burning car carrier drifted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after the 22 crew members were evacuated from the massive ship on Wednesday due to a fire, the Portuguese Navy reports.
Shipping in the area was warned that the 200-meter-long and 32-meter-wide Felicity Ace had drifted near the Portuguese Azores after the crew evacuated from the burning vessel on Wednesday, Portuguese naval spokesman Cmdr said. said Jose Sousa Luis.
The Felicity Ace can carry more than 18,700 tons of cargo. Typically, car carriers load thousands of vehicles on multiple decks into their hold.
Volkswagen Group said in a brief statement that the Felicity Ace was carrying vehicles intended for the US market. The company declined to comment on the potential impact of the incident on US customers or the VW group.
The ship’s operator, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, said in an email that it could not provide any information about the cargo.
A Portuguese naval vessel headed for the car carrier, which sailed from Emden in Germany to the port of Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island, according to online vessel trackers. According to the Portuguese Navy, the fire is still raging on the ship. The naval vessel had to check whether the cargo ship was in danger of sinking or causing pollution.
The ship’s owner is looking for a seagoing tug, but the Felicity Ace is unlikely to be towed to a port in the Portuguese Azores due to its size, Sousa Luis said.
The crew was taken by helicopter to the island of Faial in the archipelago, about 160 kilometers away, on Wednesday, where they will stay in a hotel. None of them were injured.
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