LISBON — A burnt-out cargo ship carrying hundreds of luxurious vehicles, together with Porsches and Bentleys, sank on Tuesday off the Portuguese Azores archipelago almost two weeks after it caught hearth, a port official stated.
Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the closest port on the island of Faial, advised Reuters the Panama-flagged Felicity Ace had sunk as efforts to tow it started because of structural issues attributable to the hearth and tough seas.
“When the towing began… water began to come back in,” he stated. “The ship misplaced its stability and sank.”
The blaze on the ship carrying round 4,000 autos made by Volkswagen Group from Germany to the US, broke out on Feb. 16. The 22 crew members had been evacuated on the identical day.
Cabecas stated no oil leak had been reported thus far however there have been fears the gasoline tanks may very well be broken because the vessel lay on the backside of the Atlantic at a depth of round 3,500 meters (2.17 miles).
Volkswagen, which stated final week the harm to the autos was coated by insurance coverage, confirmed the ship has sunk. Insurance coverage specialists stated the incident may end in losses of $155 million.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Further reporting by Christoph Steitz, Enhancing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson)
Photograph: On this undated photograph supplied by the Portuguese Navy, smoke billows from the burning Felicity Ace automotive transport ship as seen from the Portuguese Navy NPR Setubal ship southeast of the mid-Atlantic Portuguese Azores Islands. The ship’s crew had been taken by helicopter to Faial island on the archipelago, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) away on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. There have been no reported accidents. (Portuguese Navy through AP)
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