The car carrier Felicity Ace caught fire yesterday in the Atlantic Ocean, 90 miles southwest of the Azores. The Portuguese Navy and four merchant ships in the area responded to the car carrier’s distress call. The crew of 22 were all safely evacuated and transported by helicopter to Faial island. The ship is now adrift and on fire, awaiting salvage tugs. No details are currently available as to the cause of the fire, other than that it broke out one of the ship’s cargo decks.
The Felicity Ace had departed from the port in Emden, Germany on February 10, carrying vehicles from a number of Volkswagen Auto Group brands, including Porsche, Bentley, Audi, and VW. The ship was originally expected to arrive at Davisville, Rhode Island on the morning of February 23.
It is unclear how many automobiles are aboard the burning ship. The Felicity Ace has a capacity of approximately 4,000 cars when fully loaded. Autoblog.com reports that the ship was carrying roughly 2,500 cars when the ship caught fire. A spokesman for Porsche confirmed that Porsche models accounted for approximately 1,100 of the total. A Bentley spokesperson confirmed to The Drive that 189 of its vehicles are on board the Felicity Ace. An unspecified number of Audi and VW vehicles are also reported to be aboard the burning ship.
The Panamanian flag Felicity Ace was built in 2005, is 656 feet long and 104 feet wide, with a deadweight capacity of 17,738 tons. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, as the operator of the vessel, and MOL Shipmanagement Singapore, as ship manager, have established an incident team to coordinate the emergency response.
I can imagine there being some outrage when spoiled rich people get told they are going to have to wait longer for their new Bentleys and Porches.
Also a fire on an Italian ferry – https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-breaks-out-ferry-greece-with-288-people-board-2022-02-18/
Alas, electric vehicles, and overpriced used cars are still available..
Used cars are purchased as trade-ins, or at auctions at much lower costs..the dealers detail these cars, and sell them At much higher prices..the profit margins are very high..
New cars are sold to customers @ market prices..dealer’s costs are the Factory invoice amounts, no wiggle room, and a very small profit margins…
Davisville isn’t a port.
Where was the ship actually bound?
Thank the post office for erasing more communities. Davisville zip code includes Quonset Pt.
The seaport facilities at Quonset Point, Rhode Island are referred to as the Port of Davisville.
I suspect foul play!
We have a similar problem in the UK with Dover Port being described on cruise ship itineries as Port of London despite being over 50 miles away, check it out on a map. 🙂