March 1, 2022 around 9:00 am Felicity Ace sank
Since the fire broke out on February 16, 2022, MOL's car carrier carrying Porsche who had been drifting in the Atlantic Ocean for about a week with almost no fire extinguishing activity (due to difficulty) "Felicity Ace".
Click here for details on the history→Fire of a ship carrying Porsche
What we know at this point is that the vessel is equipped with 3,965 Volkswagen Group vehicles, the breakdown of which is said to be:
- Porsche (1,100 units)
- Bentley (189 units)
- Volkswagen (about 500 units)
- Audi (about 1,900 units)
- Lamborghini (about 85 units)
From around last week, there was news that the ship could finally be moved (= it became possible to tow).
However, after being towed and moved to a safe place, Felicity Ace will be on Tuesday, March 1st, 9 local time, before checking the status of the cars on board, rescuing, and investigating the cause of the fire. Around that time, the central part of the Atlantic Ocean sank about 220 miles off the Azores Islands in Portugal.
The worst end.
According to the ship's operator (who was towed?), The end of Felicity Ace was hit by the waves and tilted 45 degrees to the starboard side and sank.
It is said that the cause of the sinking was the structural problem of the ship caused by the fire, the rough sea conditions on Tuesday, and the start of towing under those conditions.
When towing (the so-called ship is towed by another ship with a rope) begins, water begins to enter and the ship becomes unstable and sinks.
According to Pat Adamso, a spokesman for MOL Ship Management, MOL.
“The weather was pretty rough out there ... And then she sank, which was a surprise.” (The weather was pretty rough out there ... and surprisingly she sank)
Currently, tugboats and rescue teams are staying in the area where the ship sank to monitor the situation.
And at the moment, it seems that oil pollution from the ship has not been confirmed yet, and it seems that confirmation work is continuing on this as well.
As of March 1, when the ship sank, Volkswagen, which was carrying many cars on this ship, refused to comment. It has already been announced that damage to the cars being carried is covered by insurance.
Until a few days ago, even though the worst situation of a ship fire was that "towing will start soon", many people including the VW group said that it was sinking where positive news was still flowing. I think the situation is overwhelmed by the shock.
It's really very painful considering the cars that have sunk and the many people involved with them.
By the way, according to what was predicted by risk modeling company Russell Group, assuming that all the vehicles carried by Felicity Ace were lost this time.
- This will cost automakers at least $ 155 million
- The ship was loaded with goods worth about $ 438 million, of which about $ 401 million was cars.
And that.
Source:
◆ Burnt-out ship carrying 4,000 VW Group vehicles sinks in rough seas
◆ Felicity Ace Cargo Ship Sinks in Shocking Turn of Events
Related article: Fire of a ship carrying Porsche
I'm Rika, the author of this article. Ever since Porsche 911 became my favorite car, I've become totally addicted to Porsche, and I can't stop loving Porsche, so I started this blog. My favorite cars are 911 Carrera (991.2), 911 Carrera Cabriolet (992.1), and 911 Carrera T (992.1).
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