When: March 1, 2022
Where: The high seas, near the Azores
What: Felicity Ace sinks
- Felicity Ace left port on February 16, 2022
- Voyage: Germany To Rhode Island
- With a crew of 22 members
- Carrying 4,000 cars
- Total Cargo Worth: 438 million, $400 million in cars
- 1,100 Porsches
- 189 Bentleys
- An unspecified number of cars from Audi, Volkswagen, and Lamborghini.
- The “Felicity Ace” caught on fire and lost power.
- The fire was also fueled by the lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles on board.
- The attempt to tow it to port took a week
- They had secured the last towline on February 25
- It began listing 45 degrees to starboard.
- “The weather was pretty rough out there. . . . . And then she sank, which was a surprise.” [1]
- “On Friday, the team was able to board by helicopter, and the salvage boat Bear started towing the vessel to a ‘safe area off Azores,’ the ship manager said. It was not clear where exactly the vessel was being towed to.” [2]
- ““The potential now is with the ship being abandoned, the fire will rage out of control and jump from vehicle to vehicle,” Mercogliano said in a YouTube video about the blaze. “Vehicles don’t explode … but vehicles burn. The fire will run the length of this vessel and potentially gut it.” [3]
- The fire and rough seas hindered efforts to two it back to shore.
- It sank 3000 meters below the ocean – approximately 10,000 feet, almost two miles.
- Chances of recovery, “slim to none, some had held out hope that their special-ordered vehicles might survive the mishap.” [1]
- Under maritime law, it is not “finders keepers.” [5] (If you think salvage 2 miles under the ocean is that easy and worth the trip)
- “At least eight major incidents involving large boats and damaged cars have occurred since 2002.” [3] [4]
. . . . .
Key Biblical Thoughts:
- the unexpected
- say not today or tomorrow we will
- surprise
- loss
- what shall it profit a man, . . . .gain the whole world, lose own soul
- temporal
- eternal
- fadeth not away
- rust, moths, fire
- worldliness
- passing vs. lasting
- affluence
- materialism
- wealth
- riches
- salvation
- an everlasting inheritance
. . . .
Sermonic Example: (Using illustration method #2)
(Include whatever information you find useful)
. . . . They fought the fire for about a week, had secured most of the tow lines, and were securing the last tow line midst rough weather and sea conditions. . . . and listen to what Pat Adamson, a spokesman Felicity Ace’s management team said . . . . “And then she sank, which was a surprise.”
They thought they had it, that they could get the ship back to a port where they could salvage whatever they could. The salvage crew had been on board. Everyone was optimistic. It looked like the hard work, their arduous efforts, were a success. The last tow line was being secured, and then she sank! They had to break free of all the tow lines as it sank two miles under the ocean.
That’s the story of many a life, a home, family counseling, a marriage, and a church . . . . Chances of recovery — slim to none!
. . . .
Other Information & Links:
1. https://news.yahoo.com/felicity-ace-cargo-ship-carrying-134300000.html
2. https://www.autoblog.com/2022/02/25/felicity-ace-cargo-ship-car-fire-salvage-towing/
3. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-24/felicity-ace-so-you-lost-your-porsche-on-a-burning-boat-now-what
““You can’t possibly get a car back into a fit state once it’s been in salt water,” Volvo’s U.K. products services manager, John Rawlings, said after the accident. “We have to think of the effect on our prestige image of selling these things.”
“Fighting a fire with water then means more heavy water sloshing around uncontrolled inside the hull, which can lead to instability if it collects in the wrong part of the ship. By Tuesday, fire crews on hand at the Felicity Ace were not spraying water into the hull but rather onto the outside of the hull to cool it enough so a fire was less likely to melt the steel and cause the ship to sink.”
— https://www.autoblog.com/2022/02/25/felicity-ace-cargo-ship-car-fire-salvage-towing/
— https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/world/europe/ship-sinks-luxury-cars.html
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