Ship carrying 4,000 luxury cars sinks 2 weeks after catching fire

Nearly two weeks after catching fire, a cargo ship carrying thousands of luxury cars sank off the coast of the Portuguese Azores archipelago.

Around 4,000 automobiles, including Porsches and Bentleys, were being transported on the Felicity Ace.

When the fire broke out, the ship was on its way from the German port of Emden to Rhode Island in the United States.

When the fire broke out on February 16, the entire staff was evacuated.

The captain of the nearest port on the island of Faial, Joao Mendes Cabecas, told media that no oil leak had been recorded so far, but that there were concerns about the fuel tanks being destroyed when the ship was at a depth of roughly 3,500 metres in the Atlantic (2.17 miles).

The 22 crew members were brought to a hotel after the navy, four merchant ships sailing in the region, and the Portuguese Air Force finished the evacuation, according to Portugal’s navy.

Volkswagen claimed the vehicles’ damage was covered by insurance, which may cost up to $155 million (£116 million).

Bentley acknowledged that 189 of its cars were onboard, while Porsche stated that about 1,100 of their models were onboard.

One client claimed that his Porsche had been abandoned on the ship.

His had been reordered, according to another.