The fireplace on the cargo ship Felicity Ace, which had burned for greater than every week, is probably going extinguished and the vessel is now being towed, in line with the operator MOL Ship Administration.
The ship had been transporting 1000’s of Volkswagen automobiles, together with Porsches, Audis and Lamborghins. The reason for the hearth remains to be unknown.
“There isn’t any oil leakage from the vessel, and the steadiness of the vessel stays secure. The smoke leaving the vessel has at present stopped and isn’t seen,” mentioned the assertion from MOL Ship Administration (Singapore), a unit of Mitsui OSK Strains Ltd.
The fireplace first broke out on the Panama-flagged vessel on Feb. 16, when it had been crusing within the Atlantic some 90 nautical miles southwest of the Azores, on passage from Germany to the U.S., mentioned MOL, which has set up a website to supply details about the accident. All 22 crew members have been safely evacuated to the Azores.
Whereas the hearth was nonetheless burning on Feb. 24, by Feb. 25, the hearth apparently had been put out and a salvage staff, flown in by helicopter, was capable of board the vessel, which is now being towed by a big salvage craft, referred to as “Bear,” to a protected space off the Azores, the corporate mentioned.
As well as, it’s also being escorted by two tugs, the “ALP Guard” and the “Dian Kingdom” in addition to a big salvage craft, the “V.B. Hispanic,” which has extra firefighting functionality.
The whole greenback worth of products on the Felicity Ace has been estimated to be $438 million and, of that quantity, an estimated $401 million was for automobiles and items automobiles, with Volkswagen’s exposure running at least $155 million, in line with evaluation by Russell Group, a London-based danger options consultancy that makes a speciality of provide chain and linked dangers.
“These figures confirmed as soon as once more the precariousness of worldwide provide chains. The incident comes at a nasty time for international carmakers who’re in the midst of a provide chain disaster sourcing semiconductors, leading to new delays for brand new automobiles. An occasion like this is not going to do an important deal in instilling belief with customers,” mentioned Suki Basi, managing director of Russell Group, in an announcement issued on Feb. 21.
{Photograph}: On this undated picture supplied by the Portuguese Navy, smoke billows from the burning Felicity Ace automobile transport ship as seen from the Portuguese Navy NPR Setubal ship, southeast of the mid-Atlantic Portuguese Azores Islands. Picture credit score: Portuguese Navy through AP.
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