TACOMA, Wash. -- A ship carrying 4,800 cars that is taking on water in the north Pacific had been scheduled to arrive Sunday, July 30 at the Port of Tacoma.

The ship Cougar Ace rolled nearly onto its side and was taking on water south of the Aleutian Islands. Its 22 crewmembers were preparing to abandon ship.

A Coast Guard plane had dropped three liferafts earlier Monday, but the rough seas ended up moving the rafts under the ship.

Port of Tacoma spokesman Mike Wasem said the ship was scheduled to unload nearly 1,376 Mazdas at the port's Blair Waterway dock.

Tacoma apparently was to be the second West Coast stop. The ship owner said the first was to be at Vancouver, British Columbia.

It's unclear what impact the apparent loss of thousands of cars will have on the market. Wasem says Tacoma expects to receive about 160,000 cars this year from Japan and Korea for train shipment to markets across the United States.