BERLIN/LISBONA (Reuters) – A cargo ship carrying thousands of Porsche, Audi and Bentley cars has caught fire between Germany and the United States off the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, a spokesman for German carmaker Volkswagen said on Friday.
The Panamanian-flagged ship had left the port of Emden in northwest Germany – where Volkswagen is located – to arrive in Davisville in the US, according to the Marine Traffic website, which provides information on vessel movements around the area. Globalism.
The Portuguese navy said in a statement that the 22 crew members were evacuated when the fire broke out on Wednesday, and no injuries were reported.
On board were about 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys, according to brand spokesmen. Audi, the premium Volkswagen brand, confirmed that some of its cars were also on board, without specifying their number or providing details of their fate.
According to an internal email from Volkswagen’s US subsidiary, the ship was carrying 3,965 cars of the VW, Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini brands, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.
The German group did not confirm the total number of cars on board and said it was waiting for additional information.
The American Matt Farah on YouTube, whose car review channel “The Smoking Tire” has more than one million subscribers, said on Twitter that a dealer had contacted him confirming that the Porsche he ordered was on the ship.
“My car is now floating aimlessly, probably on fire in the middle of the ocean,” he said.
A photo posted on the Portuguese Naval Authority website on Wednesday shows clouds of smoke rising from the ship.
The captain of the port of Horta on the island of Faial told the Portuguese news agency Lusa, Thursday evening, that the fire was still active, but it was under control.
Local authorities could not be reached for comment.
(Victoria Waldersi, Christina Amann and in Berlin, Catarina Damon in Lisbon; French version Diana Mandia, edited by Blandin Hinault)
