EV batteries could complicate recovery of burning cargo ship with thousands of cars

Photo: Portuguese Navy

A bunch of burning batteries could complicate the recovery of the massive, abandoned cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The nearest port to the ship's location is the port of Hortas, where the batteries of an unknown number of electric vehicles caught fire. It is not known at this time if the batteries sparked the fire. There are experts who can put out battery fires.

The ship is burning from one end to the other.

The Felicity Ace issued distress signals Wednesday morning after it reported a fire in one of its cargo decks. According to the Portuguese Navy, all 22 crew members were successfully evacuated and did not need medical attention.

The abandoned ship's owner is working on a plan to recover it. The ships towing boats are expected to arrive at the ship's location next week.

A number of cars were on the plane. According to ImportInfo.com, the electric vehicles may have been the AUDI E-tron Sportbacks. The number of vehicles that were lost in the fire is likely to be more than $150 million.

A third-party cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic was on its way to North America. We are not aware of any injuries. We are in contact with the shipping company to find out more about the incident.

The fire is another blow to VW at a time when the global Semiconductor shortage and supply chain disruptions are roiling the auto industry. As a result of the chip shortage, the automaker recently said it would likely cut some night shifts at one of its German factories. VW expects to ramp up production in the last half of the year.