A cargo ship ferrying thousands of luxury vehicles, including Porsches and Audis, caught fire near the coast of Portugal’s Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this week, according to reports.
There were 22 crew members on board Felicity Ace, which was on its way to the US from Germany, when it caught fire on Wednesday and were evacuated by the Portuguese Air Force.
A video of the rescue operation was shared by the air force on social media accounts. The crew members were evacuated from Felicity Ace to an oil tanker, Resilient Warrior. The footage from the air force helicopter, EH-101 Merlin, shows the crew members being lifted from Resilient Warrior.
They were transported to Faial Island during the operation that included a rescuer, a systems operator, two pilots, according to the air force’s Facebook post. The 22 crew members were taken to a hotel after the navy, four merchant ships sailing in the area and the Portuguese Air Force completed the evacuation, Portugal’s navy said.
Watch the video:
The navy was quoted as saying by the BBC that no one was hurt in the fire. “So far, no source of pollution has been recorded,” the navy’s statement said.
Citing the German newspaper Handelsblattthe BBC reported that Volkswagen’s internal mail showed the ship was carrying 3,965 vehicles belonging to VW, Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini brands.
A Porsche spokesperson was quoted by The Guardian that about 1,100 cars were on board, while the Audi spokesperson did not specify the number of vehicles on the ship.
A Twitter user, Matt “I Park Cars” Farah, wrote, “I just got the call from my dealer. My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean.”
I just got the call from my dealer. My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean. https://t.co/Ge2DYk8IJ0
— Matt “I Park Cars” Farah (@TheSmokingTire) February 16, 2022
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