Not too long ago, the cargo ship Evergreen made global headlines by grounding into both shores of the Suez canal in what can only be described as a bizarre accident. Another transport ship incident with $401M worth of high end vehicles is currently ablaze in the mid-Atlantic and although it is less detrimental to international trade than the Evergreen was, we are sure some wealthy prospectors may be despaired by this knowledge.
The Felicity Ace was ablaze for a week after the 200-metre-long behemoth was abandoned by all 22 crew members 70 kilometres south of the Azores as a result of an uncontrollable fire onboard. The vessel was carrying almost 4000 vehicles in its compartments, some of which are electric. Fortunately, no injury or loss of life occurred during this ordeal and the Felicity Ace is said to have stabilised with fire fighting tugs coming to its aid this week. Once completely safe, the tugs are intended to rescue the vessel from its drift and tow it to safety.
The specialised cargo ship was travelling from Emden, Germany to Davisville, Rhode Island to help curb the existing new car shortages as a result of the semiconductor issue still plaguing the market. The week-long blaze is likely to have rendered all stock onboard as defective from the surrounding fires that have immobilised the 60,118 gross ton ship. The bill of lading states that 3,965 vehicles of the VW, Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini brands were loaded onto the ship with 1,100 of those being Porsche while 189 Bentleys suffered the same fiery fate.
Some of the 1,100 units from Porsche are rumoured to have been the Taycan EV which has made firefighting this blaze for responders more difficult than normal as lithium-ion battery fires don’t only require water to douse.
While the Captain of the ship has been unavailable for questioning, the cause of the fire remains unknown. The Portuguese Navy has remained on scene providing 24-hour monitoring of the vessel but it looks as though a $401M bill awaits the Volkswagen Group insurers.
