Mazda Won’t Sell Capsized Cargo as New

Mazda North American Operations says vehicles aboard the car-carrying ship, Cougar Ace, which nearly capsized July 23 off the Alaskan coast, will not be sold as new vehicles.

“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,” says Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO of MNAO. “It is possible those vehicles which are undamaged or repairable will be made available for sale as used cars through Mazda’s dealer network in the U.S. 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. Those beyond repair will be immediately scrapped.”

The 645-ft. (199-m) cargo ship was en route to a port in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and U.S. ports in Tacoma, WA, and Hueneme, CA, when it listed more than 60 degrees during a ballast-water change. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued all 23 crewmembers.

More than half the affected vehicles are Mazda3s and one-fourth are CX-7s, the auto maker says.

After the ship was stabilized, it was towed to Dutch Harbor, AL, where it was returned to an even keel. Currently, the Cougar Ace is under tow to Portland, OR, where it is expected to arrive today, Mazda says. Upon arrival, the ship’s cargo will be evaluated further and unloaded.

“In the interest of transparency and customer peace of mind, we will post the vehicle identification numbers of vehicles destined for sale on our consumer websites, www.MazdaUSA.com and mazda.ca, so that there is no confusion as to which vehicles were on the ship,” O’Sullivan says.