San Francisco, Feb 19 Thousands of Audis, Porsches, Lamborghinis, Bentleys and electric cars were likely to be destroyed on an abandoned cargo ship that caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean, the media reported.
The batteries of an unknown number of electric vehicles caught fire aboard the ship, reports The Verge.
The Felicity Ace ship was heading from Germany to a port in Rhode Island, the US, when it issued distress signals this week.
Some 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys were on board, as well as an unspecified number of Audis and VW.
All 22 crew members were successfully evacuated and did not need medical attention, according to a statement by the Portuguese Navy.
"The 22 crew members did not need medical assistance on arrival, having been taken to a local hotel. The owner of the ship 'Felicity Ace' is in contact with the logistic agent in order to draw up a plan for the towing of the ship," the navy said.
"So far, no source of pollution has been recorded".
It's unclear at this time whether the batteries are what sparked the fire. Experts in putting out battery fires will be needed to extinguish the blaze, the report said late on Friday.
According to Importinfo.com, the electric vehicles may have been Audi E-tron Sportbacks.
The number of vehicles lost in the fire is likely to exceed $150 million.
"We are aware of an incident involving a third-party cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic," a VW spokesperson was quoted as saying.
"The vessel was on its way to North America. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries. We are in contact with the shipping company to get more information about the incident."
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