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East Coast Daily English
Audi, Porsche, among thousands of luxury cars, drift to the Atlantic Ocean when a ship ignites
Audi, Porsche, among thousands of luxury cars, drift to the Atlantic Ocean when a ship ignites
World news
Audi, Porsche, among thousands of luxury cars, drift to the Atlantic Ocean when a ship ignites
Bloomberg quoted an internal email from Volkswagen’s US subsidiary, reporting that up to 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles were on board the ship. The logo of the German carmaker Volkswagen.
The logo of the German carmaker Volkswagen.
On Wednesday afternoon, a freighter carrying thousands of Volkswagen Group luxury cars, including Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi, ignited near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. The 22 crew members were evacuated safely, but the transport ship drifted and was left unattended in the sea.
When the tragedy struck the ship, a ship named Felicity Ace was on its way to the port of Davisville, Rhode Island. The Bloomberg news agency said in a statement that the crew had been taken to a local hotel by the Portuguese Navy and Air Force and deployed to support rescue operations.
Up to 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles are on board the ship, Bloomberg reported, citing an internal email from Volkswagen’s US subsidiary.
Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, the group manufactures the Volkswagen brand, as well as Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini. All of these were towed when the ship ignited. According to the email, more than 100 of these cars were on their way to the Port of Houston, Texas, and the GTI, Golf R, and ID.4 models were all considered vulnerable.
Luke Vandezande, a spokesperson for Porsche, said the company estimates around 1,100 of its vehicles were among those on board Felicity Ace at the time of the fire. He said customers affected by the incident are being contacted by their automobile dealers.
“Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace are safe and well,” Vandezande said.
Some customers expressed their disappointment on social media. A Twitter user reported his custom speed Porsche Boxter Spyder was among the departed cargo. Standard models of the vehicle start around $99,650. A spokesperson for Lamborghini’s US branch declined to comment on the number of cars the company had onboard or which models were affected but said that they are in contact with the shipping company to get more information about the incident.
