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The Felicity Ace cargo ship that famously caught fire off the coast of Portugal on Feb. 16 has sunk. An update on the vessel's official information site confirmed the news Tuesday morning, explaining that it had "suffered a list to starboard." Salvage teams remain at the site as they continue to monitor the situation and look out for further incidents.
This statement, which was first reported on by Road and Track, comes roughly two weeks after the ship caught fire, torching nearly 4,000 cars inside. Most of those were built by Volkswagen Group brands like Bentley, Porsche, and Lamborghini. Salvage crews were finally able to board the Felicity Ace on Friday, Feb. 25, and were towing the boat to safety.
The ship, which was carrying around 4000 cars, sank after it "suffered a list to starboard," a press release from its operators said Tuesday. The Felicity Ace became submerged around 253 miles away from the Portuguese archipelago of Azores around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Felicity Ace told Road & Track the information comes from a local ship salvage team. Bloomberg reports that the ship and its salvage crews were fighting harsh seas before it sunk.
“The weather was pretty rough out there,” Pat Adamson, a spokesperson for the Felicity Ace's operator, MOL Ship Management, said to Bloomberg. “And then she sank, which was a surprise.”
Before Tuesday, the last update from the vessel's owners, Japan-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines transportation company (MOL), came on February 25, saying the boat was stable and had been boarded by salvage crews. The company said it was using a salvage vessel to move the Felicity Ace to a safe area off Azores.
The troubles began on February 16, when the vessel caught fire while en route from Emden, Germany to Davisville, Rhode Island. The fire continued for several days, finally dying down on February 25, according to MOL. All crew were evacuated without injury, and the ship was abandoned. The Felicity Ace's fire was reportedly complicated by a number of electric cars onboard, with batteries that caught fire. It's still unclear what initially caused the blaze.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a3...go-ship-sinks/