Thursday, July 27, 2006

Zoom Zoom Glub Glub Glub.. Mazda vehicles on listing cargo ship off Aleutian Islands!

When I read about this yesterday, I was amused. Hell, amused doesn't cover it, I was laughing my ass off! Of course I had visions of 5,000 Toyotas or Nissans gently floating down to the bottom of the sea.
Well, I guess I can wipe that silly smile off my face, it seems that the 4,700 vehicles in the Norwegian owned, Singapore flagged cargo ship Cougar Ace off the Aleutian Islands were all Mazdas.
The Cougar Ace was heading for Vancouver British Columbia and then ultimately Ventura California full of 3's and CX7's. So I'm sure some customers will be getting an unhappy phone call telling them their order has been delayed.
You know, I've always been wary of these cargo ships with their ownership in Europe and all being flagged from various Asian countries and crewed by an mish mash of international sailors. Who oversees inspections and certifications? Is it just luck that this doesn't happen more often?
Now Mazda was fully insured so they'll write off the loss and pump out more units from their Hiroshima factory. Customers will have a bit of a delay in recieving their new cars. But luckily it doesn't seem that anybody was seriously hurt, other than one crew member with a broken leg. And so far there has been no news of leaked fuel or any ecological disaster as a result.
But if they can get the ship righted what's going to happen to those cars? Many of them probably have water damage and paint and body damage. I mean look at the pictures, that's a serious list. Those vehicles definitely shifted, and by shifted I mean slammed into one another. So do you think these cars will be destroyed or quietly sold to unsuspecting buyers around the globe?

Note; I want to make clear that I did not steal the headline from Joe Sherlock's View Through The Windshield, it really was a coincidence.
Click his link on the sidebar to see what I'm talking about.

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