Electric cars burning aboard ship full of Porsches, VWs, Bentleys [UPDATED]

Update: The Felicity Ace, that caught fire near the coast of the Azores, will be towed to another European country or the Bahamas, the captain of the nearest port told Reuters on Friday.

Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said. The source of the fire is still unknown.

"The ship is burning from one end to the other... everything is on fire about five meters above the water line," Cabeças said.

Towing boats were en route from Gibraltar and the Netherlands, with three due to arrive by Wednesday, Cabecas said. He added the vessel could not be towed to the Azores because it was so big it would block trade at the port.

The original story continues below.

Panama-flagged car carrier Felicity Ace caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean while transporting approximately 2,500 cars, including roughly 1,100 Porsches and an undetermined number of Volkswagens. The ship's 22 crewmembers were rescued by the Portuguese Navy, but the fate of the cars remains unknown.

"Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew of the merchant ship “Felicity Ace” are safe and well," Porsche spokesperson Luke Vandezande told Autoblog. "A number of our cars are among the cargo. We are in contact with the shipping company and the details of the cars on board are now known," he said. "Customers affected by the incident are being contacted by their dealer."

"While it remains too early to confirm what occurred and next steps, we are – along with our colleagues at Porsche AG – supporting our customers and our dealers as best we can to find solutions," Vandezande said. "Anyone concerned by this incident and the implications on the car they’ve ordered should maintain in contact with dealer with which their order was placed."