Burning Cargo Ship Carrying Thousands Of Porsches, Lamborghinis Sinks In Atlantic Ocean

A massive cargo ship carrying 4,000 luxury sports cars including Lamborghinis, Porsches, Audis, and Bentleys sank off the coast of Europe on Tuesday after it caught on fire.

The Felicity Ace, a 60,000-ton merchant ship set sail from Emden, Germany, on Feb. 10 and was en-route to the Port of Davisville in Rhode Island, when it caught fire near the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 17.

The Panama-flagged ship started to tilt to one side and take on water after it caught fire.

The 650-feet-long ship carrying cars worth an estimated total of $400 million was adrift in the mid-Atlantic after the crew was evacuated.

Salvage vessels worked to put the fire out but burning electric vehicle batteries complicated efforts to battle the blaze, reports said.

The ship’s owner, MOL Ship Management Singapore Pte Ltd, confirmed that the vessel sank at around 9 am local time on Tuesday, March 1.

“Further salvage assets are being readied to attend the vessel,” the company said in a statement. “MOL will make every effort to contain the damage and resolve the situation as the main priorities.”

No deaths were reported as all 22 sailors on board the ship were rescued after the fire started last month.

The crew members were evacuated and transported to a local hotel by the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, who were deployed to help with the rescue effort, according to a statement from the Navy.

There were 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles on board, including 1,100 Porches, Bloomberg reported.

“Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace are safe and well,” Luke Vandezande, a spokesperson for Porsche, told the outlet.

The Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, manufactures cars under brands including VW, Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini — all of which were in tow when the vessel caught fire.

“We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, vice president of PR at Porsche Cars North America, Inc., told The Associated Press in an email.