Thousands of luxury cars catch fire on a cargo ship in Atlantic Ocean

Thousands of Volkswagen Group cars were caught in a cargo ship fire near Portugal's Azores islands on Wednesday.

The Panama-flagged Felicity Ace was quickly evacuated and all 22 crew members were taken to a local hotel by the Portuguese Navy and Air Force, who were deployed to help with the rescue effort, the Navy said.

The ship was left unmanned and adrift in the ocean.

An internal email procured by Bloomberg, from Volkswagen’s US operations, revealed there were 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles aboard the ship.

Volkswagen Group, which is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, manufactures its Volkswagen brand, as well as Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini — all of which were in tow when the vessel set ablaze, the email said.

More than 100 of the cars were headed for Port of Houston in Texas, with GTI, Golf R and ID. 4 models deemed to be at risk, according to the email.

Luke Vandezande, a spokesperson for Porsche, said the company estimates around 1,100 of its vehicles were among those on board Felicity Ace at the time of the fire.

He said customers affected by the incident are being contacted by their car dealers.

“Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace are safe and well,” Mr Vandezande said.

This is not the first time Porsche has lost merchandise at sea. When the Grande America caught fire and sank in 2019 more than 2,000 luxury cars, including Audi and Porsche, sank with it.

Some customers expressed their disappointment on social media. One Twitter user reported his custom spec’d Porsche Boxter Spyder was among the departed cargo. Standard models of the vehicle start at around $99,650.

A spokesperson for Lamborghini’s US branch declined to comment on the number of cars the company had on board or which models were affected, but said they are in contact with the shipping company to get more information about the incident.

Felicity Ace is roughly the size of three football fields and was en route to a port in Davisville, Rhode Island, when a distress signal was issued due to a fire on one of its cargo decks.

As of Wednesday night, the ship’s owner was arranging for the vessel to be towed, the Portuguese Navy said. They plan to remain on site to monitor the situation, reporting no detectable traces of pollution so far.