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Fire subsides on huge cargo ship adrift in mid-Atlantic

CORRECTION Portugal Ship Fire
CORRECTION Portugal Ship Fire
CORRECTION Portugal Ship Fire
Posted at 12:17 PM, Feb 22, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-22 12:17:34-05

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A fire aboard a huge car transport ship adrift in the mid-Atlantic is dying out.

A Portuguese navy officer said Tuesday that the massive vessel is expected to be towed to the Bahamas.

The blaze on the Felicity Ace has burned for six days near Portugal's Azores Islands.

A Portuguese Air Force helicopter evacuated the 22 crew members last week.

Two ocean-going tugboats with firefighting equipment have been hosing down the vessel's hull to cool it.

A harbormaster on the Azores island of Faial says the cause of the fire is not known. However, suspicion has fallen on lithium batteries in electric vehicles the Felicity Ace was taking from Germany to the United States.

According to NPR, the Felicity Ace was heading to Davisville, R.I., before it caught fire.

The Associated Press reported that the fire occurred on a cargo deck where the vehicles were stowed, but where exactly on the ship was unknown due to too much smoke.

The Drive reported that estimates that the vehicle transporter was carrying nearly 4,000 cars, including 1,100 Porsches and about 200 Bentleys.