Grande America, the con/ro vessel that caught fire on March 10, was carrying approximately 2.200 tonnes of fuel oil. In the meantime, the vessel was transporting 2.000 cars, including a shipment of the most powerful Porsche 911s ever made.
Specifically, Grande America’s vehicle decks contained four Porsche 911 GT2 RS sports cars, along with a range of more commonplace Porsche and Audi vehicles bound for Brazil.
The GT2 RS is a heavily modified version of the 911 Turbo, with 700 horsepower, a stiffer suspension, rear wheel drive, a 2.7 second 0-60 time, and a base price of about $300,000.
Because of the vessel’s sinking, the limited-run vessels resulted to the bottom of the ocean, in 15,000 feet of water. It is reported, that Porsche has restarted production on the supercar.
As Carscoops note, Porsche Brazil commented
Due to the nature of the situation, and considering that you’re a loyal and highly valuable customer for our brand, Porsche has decided to resume the GT2 RS production in Germany, and your vehicle will be produced in April, with delivery scheduled for June.
For the time being, French Authorities are making efforts to contain fuel oil from the Grande America sinking.
Later on, French authorities informed of finding another oil slick originating from the sunken RoRo in the Bay of Biscay.
At the area of the incident, the Spanish tugs Alonso de Chaves and Maria de Maetzu, the French Navy tug VN Partisan, and the chartered tug TSM Kermor are working continuously to contain fuel leaking from the America’s submerged hull. Response agency Premar Atlantique reported that the surface at the site was marked by a continuously visible oily sheen with clumps of HFO.
Separately, the French Navy tugs Argonaute, VN Sapeur and Rhône and the Spanish response vessel Ria de Vigo are chasing down the initial plume of pollution that the America released on the date of her sinking.
Shipowner Grimaldi Lines has confirmed that the fire originated in a container, putting it on the growing list of devastating container fires at sea.
Including incidents that haven’t made the headlines, the industry has recently averaged one “major” container fire every sixty days, according to insurer TT Club.
