Vehicles on the ship include Porsches, Audis, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis.
The fire began last Wednesday and has finally subsided.
The numerous EVs onboard likely kept the fire going.
As though the global microchip shortage and other parts supply issues weren’t enough, roughly 4,000 Volkswagen Auto Group vehicle consumers will have to wait even longer for their new car. The Felicity Ace left Germany en route to the US last week and on Wednesday caught fire. The inferno has raged on until today has lost its intensity.
2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S | Photo: Olivier Delorme
People with knowledge of the issue are not certain how the fire started, however, are fairly convinced that the EVs on board along with their batteries kept the flames going for as long as they gave.
Of the 4,000 vehicles from the Volkswagen Auto Group on board, about 1,100 are Porsches while another 189 are Bentleys. It’s unclear how many were Lamborghini and Audi vehicles, but this brings up the question of loss.
Mulliner Carbon Fibre Wheel | Photo: Bentley
“Looking at the entire cargo, assuming that three-fourths of the vehicles are a total loss, and averaging the wholesale value at a lower amount (to account for the VWs plus some Bentleys and a lot of Audis), suggests this involves about $376,675,000 worth of cargo. Probably three-fourths of that, or $282,506,250 is a total loss, […] Again, we do not have a good assessment of the degree of damage to the cargo from any inspection, but fire, water, smoke, and submersion damage are all overlapping likelihoods for these vehicles.”
According to Automotive News, as the fire’s intensity has slowed, firefighting teams and technicians should be boarding the vessel shortly.
