A fire broke out at the Panama Flag cargo ship Facility Ace on Wednesday afternoon near the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Thousands of luxury vehicles are present in this ship going from Germany to America. At the same time, 22 crew members have been evacuated safely with the help of the Portuguese Navy and Air Force.
The Navy says the ship is being monitored. The fire is still on. There are plans to take the ship to a nearby port. A port on Portugal’s Azores Island is nearby, but it is not possible to take the ship there, as the ship is as big as three football grounds.
An email from Volkswagen’s US operations revealed that there are 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles on board. Apart from this, it also includes Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini.
More than 100 GTI, Golf R, and ID.4 model vehicles on board are being shipped to Port of Houston, Texas. Significant damage is expected due to the fire. Already the automobile industry is running at a loss due to the pandemic. In such a situation, the matter has become more serious due to the fire.
Porsche spokesman Luke Vandezande said that the company estimated about 1,100 of its vehicles were on the ship at the time of the fire. Automobile dealers are contacting the customers affected by the incident. On the other hand, a spokesman for Lamborghini’s US branch declined to comment on the incident.
Some customers have expressed their disappointment on social media. A Twitter user said that his custom-specific Porsche Boxster Spyder car is also on the ship. Its price starts from around $99,650.