Photo: Marinha Portuguesa (Portuguese Navy)
American customers that were warned about their cars being in the cargo ship that caught fire now have the confirmation these vehicles are gone. According to João Mendes Cabeças, the fire is fading. The Portuguese Navy captain explained to Agência Lusa the sad reason for that: there is very little left to burn.
Cabeças revealed during the weekend that the electric cars inside the vessel were making it more difficult to fight the blaze. Electric car fires are notoriously difficult to kill because of the battery chemistry that contains oxides. When they burn, they release oxygen. That keeps the flames going for much longer than in other kinds of fires.
In Europe, some firefighters even carry large water tanks to fire spots involving electric cars. A crane places them inside these tanks to prevent the fire from reigniting instead of spending massive amounts of water in the process.
Cabeças said they would demand specialist equipment to kill the fire inside the Felicity Ace. It is still not clear how the fire started or if the EVs inside the boat had anything to do with it. Apparently, the situation was solved on its own. At this point, the towboat Thor B is just cooling down the cargo ship for rescue and insurance teams to evaluate the vessel. The Azorian government had originally hired that boat to transport goods among some of the islands that constitute the archipelago.
The Portuguese Navy captain told Agência Lusa that the main concern with the cargo ship at this point is to ensure it will not pollute the waters in any way. Luckily, no issues with that have been registered so far.
On Sunday, a Dutch ship called ALP Guard was expected to arrive coming from Gibraltar. The towboat will be one of the vessels responsible for taking the Felicity Ace to its final destination. Currently, there are two options for it: getting back to Europe – Portugal or Spain are the closest points for it to reach – or going to the Bahamas. The ship is registered in Panama.
Around 4,000 cars from the Volkswagen Group burned down in the fire. Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback units were confirmed inside the Felicity Ace, but plug-in hybrids and Porsche Taycans could also be in the cargo compartment. The losses could amount to $282 million.
In Europe, some firefighters even carry large water tanks to fire spots involving electric cars. A crane places them inside these tanks to prevent the fire from reigniting instead of spending massive amounts of water in the process.
Cabeças said they would demand specialist equipment to kill the fire inside the Felicity Ace. It is still not clear how the fire started or if the EVs inside the boat had anything to do with it. Apparently, the situation was solved on its own. At this point, the towboat Thor B is just cooling down the cargo ship for rescue and insurance teams to evaluate the vessel. The Azorian government had originally hired that boat to transport goods among some of the islands that constitute the archipelago.
The Portuguese Navy captain told Agência Lusa that the main concern with the cargo ship at this point is to ensure it will not pollute the waters in any way. Luckily, no issues with that have been registered so far.
On Sunday, a Dutch ship called ALP Guard was expected to arrive coming from Gibraltar. The towboat will be one of the vessels responsible for taking the Felicity Ace to its final destination. Currently, there are two options for it: getting back to Europe – Portugal or Spain are the closest points for it to reach – or going to the Bahamas. The ship is registered in Panama.
Around 4,000 cars from the Volkswagen Group burned down in the fire. Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback units were confirmed inside the Felicity Ace, but plug-in hybrids and Porsche Taycans could also be in the cargo compartment. The losses could amount to $282 million.
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