For those who don't know, back in 2006 a ship called the Cougar Ace was en route to the US with a load of 4,703 Mazdas. The load consisted of 3s, 6s, RX-8s, MX-5s and CX-7s. Somewhere offshore, the ship emptied its ballast tanks to empty the foreign water to avoid contaminating the local ecosystem. Upon taking on fresh water offshore, something went wrong and only the port side ballast tanks filled, causing a 60º list to the port side. The crew was rescued and for a little over a month, the ship floated free only monitored by the Coast Guard who corrected its position on occasion to keep it away from shore.

Eventually the ship was towed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska where its tanks were filled and it was rightened. The ship was then towed to Portland, Oregon where the cars could be off-loaded and the ship could be inspected for damage.

To make a long story short, Mazda chose to scrap all 4,700 cars rather than face potentially damaging litigation should a safety system fail to operate. All airbags were deployed, tires and wheels were destroyed, then the cars were crushed and shredded whole. Not a single component was re-used...not even the lug nuts.

Here is a little documentary in the final moments of a doomed 2007 Mazda3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcpiF51gJRE&feature=fvw

 

Pretty cool shit!

 

Sorry if this has been answered before but would it be the Cougar Ace's owners insurance that would cover the cost of all of the vehicles or would Mazda have been the one paying the insurance on them?

I remember seeing a video a couple years back where they went inside the ship while it was still listing and all of the cars were basically just hanging sideways inside the ship, it was a very cool video I wish I could remember where I saw it...

 

MitsuiOSK Line's insurance company was the one that paid Mazda off, as far as I know.

 

 

Wow.

 

I could think of a 100 better things to do with all those cars... 99 of them being "give me one for each day of the year."

 

x2 Very cool vid.

 

I don't even like Mazda's but that was really kinda painful to watch getting brand new cars destroyed.

 

I remember the incident. Wasn't the ship red and the shape of a Corvette?

 

I see what you did there.

 

Why did that guy dismount the tire off the alloy wheel if they're not going to reuse it?

and this looks like a fun job lol. Just don't give me a Lambo or something like that to crush cause I'm just going to run off with it.

 

great vid

 

i would just buy them. ill sign a disclaimer for an "AS IS" buy.

 

You can still very easily get sued even for selling a car as is, hence why Mazda would prefer to just crush the cars and avoid any potentially massive lawsuits.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Cool vid.

 

Look at all of those sh*tboxes.

 

That is sad. The interior is still wrapped up and everything. I don't understand why anything would have gone wrong on those cars. They weren't under water or anything right?

 

That's just sad...

I know the cars were damaged, but certainly there were parts that could've been salvaged and saved Mazda millions...

 

OMG thas so sad, what a waste.

 

Even though I don't care too much for Mazda's (shitboxes), it's kind of when you see that guy pulling stuff out of the car with the plastic still on the seats knowing it's about to be crushed. ha.

 

Lol.
That's what made me

 

Yea, but I think its more of an insurance thing. Insurance paid them out for a total loss. I dont think it was 100% Mazdas choice to destroy them.

 

Cool video but I agree, I can't imagine what could possibly be wrong with the tires, wheels, and lugs along with various other things. I could see maybe the engine since it was on its side for so long but still...sad

I do like the fact that the add on the bottom of the YouTube video says "Locate a Toyota Dealer near you."

 

If by some chance, a tire, or lug nut, or wheel ever fails it will ALWAYS come back to the fact that it was involved in this accident, it's unfortunate, but it's the truth.

 

Ahhh, corporal punishment for cars