Even a week after the evacuation of the car freighter Felicity Ace, the fire is still active, as the Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines announced on a website about the incident yesterday.

However, according to information from the FAZ, the number of fires is now rapidly decreasing.

According to the port captain of Horta in the Azores, Joao Mendes Cabecas, burning lithium-ion batteries made extinguishing the fire difficult.

Nothing is known about the cause.

"Once the fire has spread far, it is hardly possible to extinguish it," says Jörg Asmussen, General Manager of the German Insurance Association (GDV).

If an examination shows that the ship has enough stability, an attempt to extinguish the fire with water can be started.

Another possibility: more carbon dioxide for the extinguishing systems - but this depends on the sea and the weather.

The 200 meter long transport ship was on its way from Emden in Lower Saxony to Davisville in the American state of Rhode Island when a fire broke out about 167 kilometers southwest of the Azores in the Atlantic.

The shipping company set up an emergency response team - nearby merchant ships and helicopters helped get all 22 crew members to the nearest island.

So far no oil leaked

According to media reports, 4,000 vehicles from the VW Group are on the freighter, including Porsches, Bentleys and Lamborghinis.

Since everyone has left the Felicity Ace, the Portuguese Navy is monitoring the driverless activity via the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Ponta Delgada and is keeping a warship on standby.

According to the current status, no oil has leaked and the ship's position remains stable, the shipping company informs on the Internet.

A local patrol boat arrived on site last week.

As soon as the situation allows, the salvage team is scheduled to board to assess future salvage plans.

The aim is to extinguish the fire on the high seas using state-of-the-art equipment before the ship is towed to a port, explained the port commander Cabeças.

After all: There is no environmental pollution, although the ship has large amounts of fuel and car batteries on board.

Two large Gibraltar tugboats with fire-fighting equipment spray the freighter with water to cool the hull and hull.

In addition, the two ships should help to prevent the Felicity Ace from drifting.

Another salvage ship with fire-fighting equipment from Rotterdam is due to arrive on Saturday.

helicopter in action

To find out how best to tow the ship, a team of experts will fly to the Felicity Ace in a Portuguese Air Force helicopter tomorrow.

On Tuesday evening, the navy announced that the ship is around 362 kilometers south of the Azores island of Faial.

White smoke continues to rise from the ship, but it has decreased significantly.

The amount of damage is unclear.

The Bloomberg news agency cites the risk modeling company Russell Group, which estimated the value of the cars at $401 million. $155 million would go to the German manufacturer.

Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based consultant, estimates the $334.6 million in cargo damage.

A spokesman for VW did not want to provide any information when asked by the FAZ.

Demand for automatic extinguishing systems

To reduce the risk of fire on large car freighters, Jörg Asmussen calls for more automatic extinguishing systems.

Specifically, he has high-pressure water mist in mind: "Water mist does not damage the cargo, so it can also be used preventively," Asmussen told the FAZ.

The water mist hardly affects the stability of the ship because it only brings a little water onto the decks.

In addition, unlike carbon dioxide, water mist is not dangerous for humans.

However, the GDV boss is also calling for improvements in container ships – the extinguishing systems on these, even on modern ships, have not fundamentally changed since the 1960s.

The crew still had to extinguish with hoses on deck.

"We need permanently installed water cannons and sprinkler systems on today's megaships so that fires can be extinguished with onboard equipment.

Not enough happens there,” says Asmussen.

The transport insurers of the GDV have developed a system with which fires on container ships on and below deck should be controllable in the future - exclusively with on-board resources and without outside help.

“Our system provides for dividing the load into individual fire compartments of around 3,000 containers each.

If a fire breaks out on deck, automatic water curtains can prevent the flames from spreading to other fire compartments.”

For Asmussen, one thing is clear: “With goods worth up to 500 million euros on board, more security should be invested in.

These huge ships with up to 5,000 cars on board could become significantly safer with improved extinguishing systems.” That is why the GDV is working with the International Maritime Organization to ensure that improved extinguishing systems become mandatory in the future.

Last week, an Allianz insurance expert warned in an interview with the FAZ of an increasing risk of fire on transport ships from electric cars.

Asmussen argues against this: “The more vehicles there are on board, the greater the risk of self-ignition.

Statistically, combustion engines even tend to do this slightly more often than e-cars, the fire load is comparable.”