Ship carrying hundreds of Porsches and Bentleys adrift after catching fire

US-centered automobile reviewer Matt Farah claimed on Twitter that a Porsche he had ordered was on the ship.

“I just got the phone from my seller,” he tweeted. “My car is now adrift, possibly on hearth, in the center of the ocean.”

The fire was still reportedly lively as of Thursday night and the cause is not however recognised. The ships are often divided into sections, which could limit the injury to the cargo.

The ship is operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, which said it “regrets the inconvenience and worry caused”.

It extra: “MOL will make just about every effort and hard work to include the harm and solve the predicament as the main priorities.”

The crew are safe in a lodge on the Azores and are in excellent well being, it mentioned, including that it had appointed a salvage workforce which is due to get there at the vessel on Friday.

Among the the 3,965 vehicles impacted were Volkswagen and Lamborghinis, according to the German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Container ship fires are rare, but can be catastrophic. In 2018, a hearth on the Maersk Honam claimed the lives of five of its 27 crew just after chemical substances it was carrying caught fireplace and the ship’s carbon dioxide fire suppression process was unable to carry the blaze underneath control. It was salvaged and renamed the Maersk Halifax.

Container ship dimensions have enhanced by 1,500pc because 1968, according to insurance provider Allianz, which has warned that ever-far more advanced fire-battling units will be essential to hold up.

Volkswagen did not immediately reply to a ask for for remark.