A large cargo ship carrying luxury cars from Germany to the US sank in the mid-Atlantic sea on Tuesday. This information was given by the officials of the Portuguese Navy. The ship caught fire about two weeks ago.
Authorities have confirmed that the ship ‘Felicity Ace’ lost stability and sank some 250 miles off Portugal’s Azores islands while being towed ashore.
The Portuguese Navy said in a statement that only a few pieces of debris and a small amount of oil were visible where the ship sank and that tugboats were breaking up patches of oil from the hoses. Portuguese Navy officials said one of the ships monitoring Felicity Ace was on its way to Ponta Delgada in the Azores to collect pollution control equipment.
The 650-foot-long ship is capable of carrying 4,000 cars. However, it is not yet clear how many vehicles were present on the ship.
According to media reports, European automakers declined to comment about how many cars were on the ship and what models they were. However, Porsche customers in the US are being contacted in person by their dealerships.
“We are working to replace every car affected by this incident and new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, vice president of public relations at Porsche Cars North America Inc., told the media.
The Portuguese Navy has rescued all 22 crew members from the ship. He was supposed to reach Davisville, RI on 16 February with the ship. The crew was taken by helicopter to the island of Fayal in the Azores. None of the crew members were hurt.
billions in loss
According to the report, Volkswagen has confirmed that the insurance company has covered damages to their vehicles, which could be at least $155 million (Rs 11 billion 74 crore). The report states that the total estimated loss for all cargo, which includes all cars from Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, is close to $440 million (Rs 33 billion 28 crore).