An enormous auto transport ship that repeatedly delivers Porsches, Audis, Bentleys, Volkswagens from Europe to the U.S. is on fireplace and adrift within the Atlantic.

In line with an inner Volkswagen Group e-mail obtained by Bloomberg, 3,965 U.S.-bound automobiles are aboard. About 1,100 Porches and 189 new Bentleys, a number of U.S.-based spokespeople for group manufacturers confirmed to Automotive Information.

The ship is greater than a thousand miles off the coast of Portugal, and its crew of twenty-two has been safely evacuated by different vessels, together with the Portuguese navy.

The boat departed the German port of Emden on Feb. 10, and was scheduled to reach in Davisville, R.I., on Feb. 23, in accordance with a posting on Marinetraffic.com. Greater than 100 of the automobiles on board had been headed for Port of Houston in Texas.

The 650-foot-long, 106-foot-wide automotive hauler was inbuilt 2005 and sails below a Panamanian flag, in accordance with the location.

A spokesman for Volkswagen Group of America mentioned the corporate is “conscious of an incident involving a third-party cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group automobiles throughout the Atlantic. The vessel was on its option to North America. At the moment, we’re not conscious of any accidents. We’re in touch with the transport firm to get extra details about the incident.”

In an emailed assertion, Porsche mentioned: “Whereas it stays too early to verify what occurred and subsequent steps, we’re – together with our colleagues at Porsche AG – supporting our prospects and our sellers as greatest we are able to to search out options. Anybody involved by this incident and the implications on the automotive they’ve ordered ought to contact their Porsche vendor.”

The incident may have long-reaching results on already depleted inventories for VW Group manufacturers within the U.S. Excluding the Q5, Audi makes most of its U.S.-bound automobiles in Europe.

Lamborghini additionally would have automobiles on the ship, as does the Volkswagen model — though VW’s affect could be restricted to Golf R and GTI Arteon, and ID4s. TheDrive.com reported on the hearth Wednesday, as did the Related Press.

It’s not the primary time VW Group has misplaced merchandise at sea. When the Grande America caught fireplace and sank in 2019, over 2,000 luxurious automobiles, together with Audi and Porsche, sank with it.

Urvaksh Karkaria and Bloomberg contributed to this report.