A Mitsui OSK Line (MOL) roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel sailing from Emden, Germany to Davisville Rhode Island carrying Porsche and Volkswagen cars has caught fire.
The ship, MV Felicity Ace, carrying luxury cars caught fire while sailing in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday.
The 22 crew members on the ship managed to escape the fire and evacuate the vessel.
The Portuguese Navy said the fire occurred when the ship was in waters about 90 nautical miles southwest of the Azores, Portugal.
The vessel owner has prepared a number of tows or tugboats to tow the burning ship.
Meanwhile, Porsche confirmed that a number of their luxury cars were on the cargo ship. Customers have also been contacted by the car dealership company. Volkswagen also confirmed that their cars are on the ship.
Photo: Maritime BG
Management Statement:
MOL Shipmanagement Singapore, managers of the car carrier FELICITY ACE report that the vessel has experienced a fire and the Master has taken the prudent decision to abandon the ship. With assistance from commercial ships and helicopter in the area, all 22 crew members have been safely evacuated from the ship.
FELICITY ACE was on passage from Germany to USA, carrying car units, when the fire occurred in approximate position 37 deg.29.9N x 030 deg. 14.00W, some 90 nautical miles southwest of the Azores in the Atlantic. The fire was first reported at around 1130 hrs CET on February 16.
All the appropriate authorities have been alerted and are responding. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines as the operator of the vessel and MOL Shipmanagement Singapore, has established an incident response team to coordinate the emergency. As the safety of the crew members have been confirmed, MOL will make every effort to contain the damage and resolve the situation as the main priorities.
