The roll-on roll-off (roro) carrier that caught fire off the coast of the Azores two weeks ago has sunk, taking down with it more than 4 000 cars, many of which are exotic luxury cars like Bentleys, Porsches and Lamborghinis.
The total value of the vessel’s cargo has been estimated as $438 million by Russel Group, risk consultants from Cambridge in the UK.
The roro, belonging to Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines and capable of carrying 6 400 cars, listed to starboard before sinking at about 3am this morning near Illa de Faial.
Water depth in the area where it went asunder, about 40km outside Portugal’s Economic Exclusive Zone, is said to be at least 3 000 metres.
Salvage craft, some of which were dispatched from the ports of Gibraltar and Rotterdam, will remain in the area to survey the scene where the Felicity Ace sank.
All that remained after it disappeared below the surface was some debris and oil, the latter having being appropriately treated to contain environmental damage.
The Portuguese Navy said the Department of Pollution of the National Maritime Authority was monitoring the scene, along with the European Maritime Security Agency.
The sinking of Felicity Ace comes about two weeks after the roro’s crew abandoned the vessel.
Firefighters battled for days to extinguish the blaze, allegedly made worse by the lithium ion battery components that were aboard the vessel, some hazardous cargo experts said.
Initial inability to treat such a fire, fuelled by electric vehicles that ironically are supposed to be environmentally safe, is felt to have exacerbated the incident and scuppered chances to salvage the ship’s cargo.
