Burning ‘ghost’ ship carrying 1,300 supercars ‘worth £120million’ left drifting at sea as crew escape blaze
CAR customers were bemoaning their luck after a ghost ship carrying 1300 supercars caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The vehicles, thought to be worth a combined £120 million, were among the vessel’s expensive cargo as 22 crew members were safely evacuated off the burning barge yesterday.
Lifeboats reportedly swooped to the scene on Wednesday morning as the ship blazed near the mid-Atlantic Azores islands.
Authorities confirmed that no crew members were injured in the operation that ferried the staff across to the nearby Portuguese island of Faial.
One patrol boat and four merchant vessels helped with the rescue, alongside the aircraft provided by the Portuguese Air Force.
As attentions turned to the cargo, officials confirmed that it was unclear how much of the ship's expensive inventory had been lost as an investigation into the cause of the fire began.
Reports suggest there was 4000 cars on board in total - including 189 Bentley's.
The huge 650-feet-long vessel had first set sail last Thursday from Emden, Germany, and was bound for the port of Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island.CAR customers were bemoaning their luck after a ghost ship carrying 1300 supercars caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The vehicles, thought to be worth a combined £120 million, were among the vessel’s expensive cargo as 22 crew members were safely evacuated off the burning barge yesterday.
Lifeboats reportedly swooped to the scene on Wednesday morning as the ship blazed near the mid-Atlantic Azores islands.
Authorities confirmed that no crew members were injured in the operation that ferried the staff across to the nearby Portuguese island of Faial.
One patrol boat and four merchant vessels helped with the rescue, alongside the aircraft provided by the Portuguese Air Force.
As attentions turned to the cargo, officials confirmed that it was unclear how much of the ship's expensive inventory had been lost as an investigation into the cause of the fire began.
Reports suggest there was 4000 cars on board in total - including 189 Bentley's.
The huge 650-feet-long vessel had first set sail last Thursday from Emden, Germany, and was bound for the port of Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island.The ship, which regularly ferries expensive cars such as Volkswagen, Lamborghini, Audi and Porsche, was expected to arrive in the US on February 23.
Customers of Porche were previously told they could track their purchases through an online portal called Track Your Dream which runs live updates.
The website later confirmed that it was "aware of an incident on the Felicity Ace carrying certain Porsche vehicles".
Matt Farah, a popular YouTuber and editor of The Smoking Tire, was one of the unlucky customers whose new purchase was on board The Felicity Ace.
“I just got a call from my dealer. My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean," he said.
“I’m glad no one was hurt in the fire and everyone is safe, which is the most important thing.
"I’m sure that whatever happens going forward, Porsche will do right by their customers.”
On Thursday a spokesman for Porche confirmed that 1,100 of the company’s cars were on board but that the fate of the vehicles was unknown.
"Our immediate thoughts are of the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace, all of whom we understand are safe and well as a result of their rescue by the Portuguese Navy following reports of a fire on board.
"We believe a number of our cars are among the cargo onboard the ship. No further details of the specific cars affected are available at this time – we are in close contact with the shipping company and will share more information in due course."
A spokesperson for Volkswagen added: "We are aware of an incident today involving a cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries.
"We are working with local authorities and the shipping company to investigate the cause of the incident."
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