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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A big cargo vessel carrying vehicles from Germany to the USA sank Tuesday within the mid-Atlantic, 13 days after a hearth broke out on board, the ship’s supervisor and the Portuguese navy stated.
The Felicity Ace sank about 400 kilometers (250 miles) off Portugal’s Azores Islands because it was being towed, MOL Ship Administration in Singapore stated in a press release. A salvage group had put out the fireplace.
The 200-meter-long (650-foot-long) vessel listed to starboard earlier than going below, the ship’s supervisor stated.
The Portuguese navy confirmed the sinking, saying it occurred exterior Portuguese waters. A Portuguese Air Power helicopter evacuated the 22 crew members when the fireplace first broke out, setting the ship adrift.
Ocean-going tugboats with firefighting tools had been hosing down the ship’s hull to chill it.
It wasn’t clear what number of vehicles have been onboard the ship, however vessels of the Felicity Ace’s measurement can carry no less than 4,000 autos.
European carmakers declined to debate what number of autos and what fashions have been on board, however Porsche prospects in the USA have been being contacted by their sellers, the corporate stated.
“We’re already working to exchange each automobile affected by this incident and the primary new vehicles will probably be constructed quickly,” Angus Fitton, vp of PR at Porsche Automobiles North America, Inc., advised The Related Press in an e mail.
The ship was transporting electrical and non-electric autos, in response to Portuguese authorities. Suspicion on what began the fireplace on Feb. 16 has fallen on lithium batteries utilized in electrical autos, although authorities say they haven’t any agency proof concerning the trigger.
Authorities feared the ship may pollute the ocean. The ship was carrying 2,000 metric tons (2,200 tons) of gasoline and a couple of,000 metric tons (2,200 tons) of oil. It could actually carry greater than 17,000 metric tons (18,700 tons) of cargo.
The Portuguese navy stated in a press release that just a few items of wreckage and a small patch of oil was seen the place the ship went down. The tugboats have been breaking apart the patch with hoses, it stated.
A Portuguese Air Power aircraft and a Portuguese navy vessel are to stay on the scene looking out for indicators of air pollution.
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