A cargo ship that caught fire while transporting 4,000 cars from Europe to the United States sank Tuesday after a fire broke out onboard nearly two weeks ago.
MOL Ship Management Singapore Pte Ltd confirmed its ship Felicity Ace toppled over and sunk about 253 miles off the coast of Portugal at about 9 a.m. local time. It was a 60,000-ton merchant ship carrying around 4,000 luxury Volkswagen cars — including models from Porsche, Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini, and other Volkswagen AG brands.
Before sinking, Felicity Ace was being hauled by tug boats from Dutch company SMIT Salvage.
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It is estimated the cargo onboard the Felicity Ace was worth about $438 million, according to insurance experts Russell Group Ltd. Its supply of cars accounted for about $401 million. In addition, Russell estimates Volkswagen stands to lose at least $155 million.
Felicity Ace sent a distress signal near the mid-Atlantic Azore Islands on Feb. 16 when a fire broke out in its cargo hold. All 22 crew members safely evacuated, but pictures from nearby ships showed the Felicity Ace engulfed in smoke and flames.
After the fire was extinguished, Volkswagen reported that “large parts of the nearly 4,000 vehicles from several group brands were so damaged in the ship fire that they can no longer be delivered.”
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On Feb. 22, MOL reported in a statement there were no oil leaks aboard. Now that Felicity Ace has sunk, there is no way of knowing how the fire started.
