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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A large cargo ship carrying cars from Germany to the United States sank in the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, 13 days after a fire broke out on the ship, the ship’s manager and the Portuguese navy said.
MOL Ship Management in Singapore said in a statement that the Felicity Ace sank about 400 kilometers (250 miles) off Portugal’s Azores Islands while towing. A rescue team put out the fire.
The shipmaster said the 200-metre-long (650-foot-long) ship was listed on the starboard side before it sank.
The Portuguese navy confirmed that it sank, saying the incident took place outside Portuguese waters. A Portuguese Air Force helicopter drifted the ship, evacuating 22 crew members when the fire first broke out.
Oceangoing tugs with firefighting equipment soaked the hull of the boat with hoses to cool the ship.
It was unclear how many cars were on board, but ships the size of the Felicity Ace could carry at least 4,000 vehicles.
European automakers declined to discuss how many vehicles and which models were on board, but the company said its dealers contacted Porsche customers in the US.
“We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident, and the first new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, VP of Public Affairs at Porsche Cars North America, Inc., told the Associated Press in an email.
According to Portuguese authorities, the ship was carrying electric and non-electric vehicles. While authorities say they have no conclusive proof of the cause of the fire, on February 16 doubts about what started the fire fell to lithium batteries used in electric vehicles.
Authorities feared that the ship might pollute the ocean. The ship was carrying 2,000 metric tons (2,200 tons) of fuel and 2,000 metric tons (2,200 tons) of oil. It can carry more than 17,000 metric tons (18,700 tons) of cargo.
The Portuguese navy said in a statement that only a few pieces of wreckage and a small piece of oil were seen where the ship sank. The tugs were breaking the patch with hoses, he said.
A Portuguese Air Force aircraft and a Portuguese navy ship will remain at the scene for signs of contamination.
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