Salvage experts have predicted that the multi-million pound cargo of the capsized Tricolor vessel will be written off.
The Tricolor was headed for Southampton when it collided with the Bahamas-registered Kariba on the French side of The English Channel in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Tricolor had a load of 2862 cars, which has been written off at a cost of £35m. The ship itself, operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen, is understood to be insured for some £30m.
Salvage firm Smit International has now launched an operation to lift the vessel from the seabed. A Smit spokesman insisted yesterday that the cargo is a write-off.
He said: "They weren't cheap cars. But then they are no longer aligned in neatly parked rows. You wouldn't want to drive a BMW if it had been knocked about on the sea bottom and had its engine soaked in salt water."
When it went down, the vessel was carrying 2,862 BMWs, Volvos and Saabs. The spokesman added: "It should not be too difficult, because the ship is in such shallow water. The channel is just 30 metres deep at low tide and the Tricolor is 33 metres wide."
Tony Redding, spokesman for the International Salvage Union said: "I'm not sure you can do much to recover the cars, but floating cranes should be able to right the Tricolor."
A spokesman for the Tricolor's owners also admitted: "I think we must consider it [the cargo] lost."
