Thousands of Cars Stranded at Sea as Ship Burns

After catching fire at sea, the Felicity Ace was rapidly evacuated by crewmates. Now, the cargo ship sits ablaze in the Atlantic Ocean with thousands of luxury vehicles stuck on board.

The 22-man crew was forced to evacuate the ship near the Azores on Thursday, Feb. 17 after a fire spread throughout the ship on the previous day. The Felicity Ace now drifts abandoned roughly 200 miles from the Terceira Islands of the Azores. The Azores are part of Portuguese territory.

Following a distress call from the crew of the Ace, the Portuguese Navy and multiple civilian ships moved to the Ace’s location to assist in rescue operations. A Portuguese Navy helicopter successfully carried all 22 crew members to safety, transporting them to Horta in the Azores.
The ship was en route to Davisville port in Rhode Island before it caught fire. The Felicity Ace departed from Emden, Germany on Feb. 10. Over one thousand cars were expected to be unloaded at the port, including Porsches, Bentleys, Audis, and Volkswagens. Every vehicle on the Ace was owned by the Volkswagen Group. Losses are estimated to be a minimum of $155 million. The total value of the ship’s cargo is estimated at roughly $500 million. The Felicity Ace is carrying over 17,000 metric tons of cargo.

Maritime law dictates that the salvager of the vessel receives compensation determined by the condition of the ship itself and the cargo of the ship. If the Ace is towed back to Europe, a negotiation between the salvage company and the Ace’s owner will most likely occur.

The ship is owned by the Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Line and their subsidiary, Snowscape Car Carriers. If the ship is salvaged, it will most likely be salvaged by Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, a Dutch maritime services company. In a Feb. 18 press release, Boskalis announced that they had been “called upon to provide emergency response assistance for two shops that are currently on fire.” One of these ships is the Felicity Ace, while the other is a ferry that caught fire off the coast of Greece. According to Boskalis, equipment is being transported from the Netherlands and Spain to combat the fire aboard the Felicity Ace. Previously, Boskalis helped salvage the Ever Given when it became stranded in the Suez Canal.

Many of the vehicles on the Felicity Ace are electric vehicles, which causes additional complications in salvage operations. In a statement from Boskalis, a spokesperson said that “the cars are electric and part of the fire is the batteries that are still burning.” Although it remains unknown if electric car batteries caused the blaze, complications abound when putting out electric battery fires. Adding excess water to the Felicity Ace in an attempt to quell the fires could decrease the stability of the ship. Furthermore, normal fire extinguishers do not work as effectively on lithium-ion batteries.

The Ace remains ablaze as more salvage and rescue vessels arrive at the scene. The most recent reports suggest that the Ace remains stable and is not leaking oil. Additional salvage equipment is expected to arrive from the Netherlands on Feb. 26.