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The massive roll-on, roll-off ship ablaze off the Dutch coast is transporting 500 electric vehicles. The ship's total cargo is around 3,800 vehicles, some of which are BMWs and Mercedes. Shipping blog TradeWinds reported Japan's K Line is the operator of "Fremantle Highway." According to K Line's figures, there are 3,783 vehicles, of which 489 are EVs. Earlier estimates had the number of EVs at 25. "The figure is far higher than first estimated and appears to raise the likelihood that a lithium-ion battery in an EV either caused the blaze in the 6,210-ceu Fremantle Highway (built 2013) or added...

The race is on to prevent the sinking of a cargo ship off the Dutch coast which is carrying almost 3,000 vehicles, including 350 Mercedes-Benz, as it burns out of control with an electric car believed to be behind the deadly fire. At least one crew member died and others were injured after fire ripped through the Fremantle Highway, a 18,500-ton car-carrying vessel. Rescue helicopters and boats evacuated 23 crew members from the Panamanian-registered ship. Officials have said there are 'many' wounded. Some suffered broken bones, burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospitals in the northern Netherlands, emergency...

The Felicity Ace, the cargo ship carrying cars and SUVs from brands including Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini, has now sunk. It had caught fire on February 16 and its crew abandoned the ship. The largely burned out ship was being towed back to a safe port when it sank yesterday, according to a report provided by the salvage team to MOL Ship Management of Singapore, which operates the Panama-flagged ship. A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group confirmed that the automaker was aware of the vessel sinking. The Felicity Ace had been carrying nearly 4000 vehicles from various Volkswagen Group brands....

The Felicity Ace was being towed to land when it began to list to starboard in heavy seas about 250 miles off the Portuguese island chain and took on water in heavy seas, according to the ship's manager. The Portuguese navy confirmed that it sank in a location outside of Portugal's territorial waters that is over two miles deep.

We may never know if an EV started the fire, but even if the EVs didn’t start the fire, they are certainly making it a lot more difficult to extinguish the fire. EV battery fires are chemically comparable to thermite fires, hot enough to melt steel, so there may not be much left to analyse by the time the ship fire finally burns itself out. This disaster could have real consequences for the EV market, both transporting EVs by sea or land, and consumer desire for a product which is potentially such a severe fire hazard. I would not be...

The Felicity Ace, a cargo ship carrying thousands of cars including Porsches to the port of Davisville, R.I., was on fire and adrift in the mid-Atlantic after the crew was evacuated Wednesday. Photo: Portuguese Navy

Rescuers are racing to salvage a US-bound cargo ship in the Atlantic engulfed in flames with 4,000 cars on board including Bentleys, Audis and Lamborghinis. The operation is taking place off the Azores archipelago where the 'Felicity Ace' cargo ship caught ablaze at sea on Wednesday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish. Investigators are probing whether the batteries started the onboard inferno. The ship is still ablaze and plumes of white smoke are billowing from the vessel as a Portuguese navy ship works to stop it sinking...

Update: The Felicity Ace, which caught fire near the coast of the Azores, will be towed to another European country or the Bahamas, the captain of the nearest port told Reuters on Friday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire, and the blaze requires specialized equipment to extinguish, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said. The source of the fire is still unknown. "The ship is burning from one end to the other ... everything is on fire about five meters above the water line," Cabeças said. Tow boats were en route from...

Felicity Ace Car Carrier Continues to Burn in Mid-Atlantic – Photos February 18, 2022 A salvage team from SMIT is en route to the retrieve the abandoned M/V Felicity Ace, which continues to burn near the Azores. Reuters BERLIN/LISBON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – A ship carrying around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, that caught fire near the coast of the Azores will be towed to another European country or the Bahamas, the captain of the nearest port told Reuters on Friday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board the vehicle carrier Felicity Ace have caught fire and...

A burning car transport ship drifted in the mid-Atlantic on Thursday after the huge vessel's 22 crew members were evacuated due to the blaze, the Portuguese navy said. Shipping in the area was warned that the 650-foot-long Felicity Ace was adrift near Portugal's Azores Islands after the crew were taken off on Wednesday, Portuguese navy spokesman Commander José Sousa Luís said. The Felicity Ace can carry more than 18,700 tons of cargo. Typically, car transport ships fit thousands of vehicles on multiple decks in their hold. Volkswagen Group said in a brief statement the Felicity Ace was transporting to the...

A ship carrying cars from Germany to the United States caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, forcing the crew's 22 members to abandon the vessel and leave it burning and adrift. The nearly 650-foot-long ship Felicity Ace is capable of carrying 4,000 cars and was loaded with Porsches and Volkswagens. The Portuguese navy rescued all 22 members of the crew from the ship, which was scheduled to arrive in Davisville, R.I., on Feb. 23. The crew was taken by helicopter to Faial island in the Azores, The Associated Press reported. None of the crew members were hurt. As...

Auto cargo ship fire, Felicity Ace

he Portugese Navy has confirmed this morning that one of its patrol boats came to the aid of the Felicity Ace, a car carrier transiting the Atlantic Ocean, as reported by the Washington Post. The vessel transmitted a distress signal after fire broke out in one of the cargo decks, with the ship announced as "not under command" shortly afterwards. Thankfully, the 22 crew on board have been reported as successfully evacuated from the ship. The Felicity Ace had departed from the port in Emden, Germany on February 10, believed to be carrying vehicles from Porsche and other Volkswagen Auto...