Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has announced that none of the vehicles aboard the car-carrying vessel Cougar Ace, which ran into trouble off the Alaskan coast, will be sold as new vehicles.
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In addition, the company is posting vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on its consumer website to avoid confusion as to which vehicles were on the ship. Slightly more than half of the 4,700 cars onboard were Mazda 3s and about a quarter were Mazda CX-7s.
MNAO president and CEO Jim O’Sullivan said: “While we do not, at this time, know the full extent of the damage to vehicles on board, none of the Mazdas will be sold as new.
“Those beyond repair will be immediately scrapped. It is possible that those vehicles which are repairable would be made available for sale as used cars through Mazda’s dealer network in the US and Canada. We will only be in a position to decide on any used car sales once the vessel has been unloaded and each unit comprehensively inspected.”
The ship was heading for the ports of Vancouver in Canada and Tacoma and Hueneme in the US on 23 July before an issue with the routine ballast-water change caused her to list some 60-plus degrees.
After the ship was stabilised, she was towed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where she was returned to an even keel, and is due to arrive under- tow to the Port of Portland today (12 September).
The manufacturer said that the cargo would be further evaluated and unloaded on arrival.
