Thousands of Mazda cars stranded on ship

The automaker had 4,700 vehicles aboard the automobile carrier Cougar Ace that began taking on water on Sunday and listed so heavily that the 23 member crew had to be rescued on Monday by the US Coast Guard.

The 199.3 metre Mitsui OSK. Lines ship was still afloat on Wednesday with its keel and propeller out of the water, but did not appear to be sinking, a US Coast Guard spokesman said.

A Coast Guard cutter is standing by near the Cougar Ace, which is about 370km south of Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain, and waiting for a salvage ship to arrive.