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A cargo ship, Felicity Ace, said to be carrying 1,100 Porsches and as many as 189 Bentleys and many other luxury cars, was on fire and drifting off the coast of the Azores in the Atlantic on Feb. 17.

A total of 22 crew members were rescued from the vessel.

Vehicle Carrier 'Felicity Ace' Catches Fire; 22 Crew Members Onboard Rescued Safely > Check out this article👉https://t.co/YKAlXVCoSb#Shipping #Maritime #MarineInsight pic.twitter.com/52lN17othr

— MarineInsight (@MarineInsight) February 17, 2022

The fire broke out on Feb. 16 morning in the cargo hold of the ship.

It had departed from Emden, Germany on Feb. 10.

There is no news on how much of the 200m, 60,000-tonne cargo ship's inventory was lost in the fire.

The New York Times reported that one person waiting for the delivery of his US$123,000 (S$165,000) modified 2022 frozen-berry metallic Porsche Boxster Spyder was told his car was on the ship left burning in the ocean.

Bound for the U.S.

The cargo ship bound for the United States was scheduled to arrive in Davisville, Rhode Island, on Feb. 16, according to a ship tracking website.

The ship was about 320km from Terceira Island in the Azores, the Portuguese island territory, when Portuguese forces moved in on Wednesday to evacuate the crew.

The Drive, an automotive website, reported that the Volkswagen Group estimated nearly 4,000 vehicles were on board, including 189 Bentleys.

Low interest rates, higher savings rates and government stimulus payments have increased demand in the U.S. for such vehicles.

The loss of any such vehicles come as automakers have struggled to weather a shortage of computer chips.

Top photo via @MarineInsight Twitter

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