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(Elbil24): The transport ship “Felicity Ace” en route from Emden, Germany to Danville, Rhode Island, USA, with new Volkswagen cars, sank 220 nautical miles from the Azores. Several media reports on Tuesday.
The ship was scheduled to arrive in the United States on the morning of February 23, but during the transit a fire broke out on board, and it turned out to be impossible to put out. The crew of 22 people was evacuated by helicopter.
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The 200-meter ship was fully loaded with cars of the brands Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley. According to The Drive, Volkswagen has confirmed that there will be as many as 3,965 vehicles. Many of the cars will be electric cars, including a number of Volkswagen ID.4 cars, but it is uncertain where the fire will be.
The ship had been operating freely for several days, until a rescue team boarded the ship last week, tying it to a tugboat. The goal was to drag the ship to the Azores, but gradually the ship became more and more steep, until finally it sank – in very deep waters.
Although the cause of the fire has not been determined, it has been speculated that a fire in the lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles on board the plane has complicated the extinguishing work. Read more about these challenges in the case below.