Firefighters struggle to douse fire on luxury cars vessel off Azores islands, Auto News, ET Auto

LISBON: Firefighters are struggling to place out a fireplace that broke out on Wednesday on a vessel carrying hundreds of luxurious vehicles, which is adrift off the coast of Portugal’s Azores islands, a port official stated, including it was unclear after they would succeed.

The Felicity Ace ship, carrying round 4,000 autos together with Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electrical with lithium-ion batteries, caught hearth in the course of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board have been evacuated on the identical day.

“The intervention (to place out the blaze) needs to be completed very slowly,” Joao Mendes Cabecas, captain of the closest port within the Azorean island of Faial, informed Reuters late on Saturday. “It’ll take some time.”

Lithium-ion batteries within the electrical autos on board are “retaining the fireplace alive”, Cabecas stated, including that specialist tools to extinguish it was on the best way.

It was not clear whether or not the batteries sparked the fireplace.

Volkswagen, which owns the manufacturers, didn’t affirm the entire variety of vehicles on board and stated on Friday it was awaiting additional data. Ship supervisor Mitsui O.S.Okay. Strains Ltd didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Cabecas beforehand stated that “all the things was on hearth about 5 meters above the water line” and the blaze was nonetheless removed from the ship’s gasoline tanks. It’s getting nearer, he stated.

“The hearth unfold additional down,” he stated, explaining that groups may solely deal with the fireplace from outdoors by cooling down the ship’s construction because it was too harmful to go on board.

Additionally they can not use water as a result of including weight to the ship may make it extra unstable, and conventional water extinguishers don’t cease lithium-ion batteries from burning, Cabecas stated.

The Panama-flagged ship might be towed to a rustic in Europe or to the Bahamas however it’s unclear when that may occur.

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Round 1,100 Porsche autos have been on board, in response to a Porsche spokesperson. Audi confirmed a few of its autos have been additionally on board however didn’t state what number of.