Officials say the fire burning on a cargo ship carrying thousands of luxury cars has subsided after a week ablaze, but they are unsure of when a crew will be able to reach the load.
The news comes a day after Portuguese navy officials told The Wall Street Journal turbulent weather delayed reinforcements arriving at the Felicity Ace, which is hauling Audi, Bentley and Porsche cars. On Tuesday, a navy caption confirmed the smoke and visible flames aboard the cargo ship were gone.
“There are no visible fire spots anymore, and there’s no more smoke,” said João Manuel Mendes Cabeças, captain of the nearest Portuguese naval port on the island of Faial in the Azores told the Journal. “The temperature inside the ship is still high, but at least the crew can be on the main deck.”
Mendes Cabeças said although the inside of the ship was still hot, firefighters from SMIT Salvage, the Dutch company contracted to salvage the ship, plan to stabilize the ship and address the cars’ condition.
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On Feb. 16, the 650-foot, 60,000-ton cargo ship that holds thousands of luxury cars, including 1,000 Porsches, Bentley’s and Audi’s was left floating across the Atlantic Ocean after it caught fire near the Terceira Island in the Azores, the Portuguese island territory.
The ship departed from Emden, Germany, on Feb. 10 and was scheduled to arrive in Davisville, Rhode Island, on Wednesday before a fire broke out. The 22 crew members on board were safely lifted out of the burning ship via a helicopter, as seen in a video.
Matt Farah, an editor of The Smoking Tire, tweeted he’s been waiting for his 2022 frozen-berry metallic Boxster Spyder, estimated at about $123,000, since August. Then, on Wednesday, he got news from the dealership that his car was possibly on fire drifting in the ocean. On Feb. 17, he said his Porsche dealership promised to keep him updated as they handled the situation.
“Odds are a new build and hopefully not another 8 months wait for it,” Farah tweeted on Feb. 17.
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