Autoblog

Mazda has announced that none of the 4,700+ vehicles aboard the ill-fated cargo ship Cougar Ace will be sold as new vehicles. According to a press release issued by the automaker a short time ago, cars that are damaged beyond repair will be scrapped immediately. Cars that are deemed fixable and saleable, however, could be sold through Mazda's dealer network as used vehicles. Mazda stresses that no decision on saleability will be made until after the full load of vehicles is unloaded and inspected in Portland, OR. Cougar Ace left Alaska under tow on 9/1 and is expected to arrive in Oregon tomorrow.

For its part, Mazda is being completely transparent about this and will publish the complete list of VIN numbers for every vehicle aboard the ship at MazdaUSA.com and their Canadian site, Mazda.ca, As has been stated before, the cargo consists mostly of Mazda3s and Mazda CX-7s.

Cougar Ace suffered a near-catastrophic mishap on July 23 when an error during reballasting at sea sent the vessel into a steep list. She stayed afloat, however, and her crew was rescued. Sadly, an accident on board claimed the life of Marty Johnson, a naval architect working on the salvage team that ultimately righted the ship off the Alaskan coast in late August.

We're pleased to see that Mazda is handling this the right way. Publicizing the VIN list is a great good faith measure, and doing so inoculates them from accusations of trying to pass on damaged goods to customers. In fact, we wonder if the list will actually help them close a few deals along the way (assuming some cars are in repairable condition).

Think about it: given their history, some may view the cars on board as odd collectibles -- reminders of a fascinating and dramatic maritime event. In this case, the VIN list serves as irrefutable proof of the cars' backgrounds.

Still, you won't find us lining up for one if they show up in dealerships. We prefer cars whose trips across the ocean are more boring and uneventful.

(Press release after the jump)

[Source: Mazda]