The ship, Felicity Ace, which was traveling from Emden, Germany, where Volkswagen has a factory, to Davisville, in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, burns more than 100 km from the Azores islands, Portugal, February 18, 2022. Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa)/Handout via REUTERS
LISBON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Firefighters are struggling to put out a fire that broke out on Wednesday on a vessel carrying thousands of luxury cars, which is adrift off the coast of Portugal’s Azores islands, a port official said, adding it was unclear when they would succeed.
The Felicity Ace ship, carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated on the same day.
“The intervention (to put out the blaze) has to be done very slowly,” João Mendes Cabeças, captain of the nearest port in the Azorean island of Faial, told Reuters late on Saturday. “It will take a while.”
Lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles on board are “keeping the fire alive,” Cabeças said, adding that specialist equipment to extinguish it was on the way.
It was not clear whether the batteries sparked the fire.
Volkswagen, which owns the brands, did not confirm the total number of cars on board and said on Friday it was awaiting further information. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd 9104.T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cabeças previously said that “everything was on fire about five meters above the water line” and the blaze was still far from the ship’s fuel tanks. It is getting closer, he said.
“The fire spread further down,” he said, explaining that teams could only tackle the fire from outside by cooling down the ship’s structure as it was too dangerous to go on board.
They also cannot use water because adding weight to the ship could make it more unstable, and traditional water extinguishers do not stop lithium-ion batteries from burning, Cabeças said.
The Panama-flagged ship will be towed to a country in Europe or to the Bahamas but it is unclear when that will happen.
Reporting by Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Additional reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Editing by Barbara Lewis
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022.
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 109,835 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
UK investigators are urging the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to mandate thermographic equipment for hot surface detection following a serious engine room fire aboard the passenger ferry Stena Europe. The...
Cargo lightering and refloating operations are commencing today for the Canadian-flagged bulk carrier, M/V Tim S. Dool, marking a crucial phase in the recovery efforts following its grounding last month....
The U.S. Coast Guard and the crew of the orange juice tanker Orange Ocean successfully rescued a solo sailor in distress 420 miles north of Puerto Rico on Friday. Kirill Vladimirovich...
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
Sign Up
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 109,835 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
