Felicity Ace contained Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and VW cars from Emden port in Germany to Davisville, Rhode Island in the US
Two Volkswagen charter ships in the port of Emden
Aventador is sold out, so any damaged cars may need to be replaced
The Felicity Ace, the cargo ship which caught fire while carrying thousands of Volkswagen Group vehicles, had sunk around 250 miles off the coast of the Azores.
The ship was transporting around 4000 VW Group cars from the firm’s Emden port in Germany to Davisville, Rhode Island in the US, before a fire started in the hold from an as-yet unknown source. All 22 crew members were safely rescued by the Portuguese navy.
Salvage work was under way to recover the 650ft-long ship, and the fire had been extinguished. According to the ship’s manager, the vessel listed to starboard before sinking due to structural issues caused by the fire and rough seas.
It is still unclear which models exactly were on board, but reports suggest Volkswagen, Bentley, Audi and Lamborghini had cars on the boat. Reports suggest Porsche had 1100 vehicles on the ship, with one American economist estimating the total cost of damages at $335 million (£247m).
“We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon,” said Angus Fitton, vice president of PR at Porsche Cars North America, told the Associated Press.
The Portuguese Navy said last week that four merchant ships were assisting with the rescue near the island of Faial in the Azores, along with one of its own patrol boats.
Lamborghini America CEO Andrea Baldi told Automotive News Europe that the Urus accounted for the bulk of Lamborghini models on board, but there were also Hurácan and Aventador customer cars on the Felicity Ace.
“We don’t know yet the final outcome. We also are waiting for official information for the time being,” Baldi told ANE. “We have informed our dealers, and they have informed our customers, because whatever happens, in any case, there will be a delay.”
The Aventador is sold out ahead of production ending later this year, so any damaged cars may need to be rebuilt, Baldi said. “The car is sold out, so there is always a possibility out of 563 units that some cancellation can allow an Aventador replacement, but I prefer to hope for the time being that at least the few Aventadors on the ship will be safe,” he added.
Prior to this, Porsche posted an update on its ‘Track Your Dream’ shipment tracking service: “We’re aware of an incident aboard the Felicity Ace, a specialised cargo ship carrying certain Porsche vehicles. Your dealership will provide you with additional information on how this impacts you as soon as we have additional information and know the full scope of the issue.”
In a separate statement to The Drive, Porsche said: “Our immediate thoughts are of the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace, all of whom we understand are safe and well as a result of their rescue by the Portuguese Navy following reports of a fire on board.
“We believe a number of our cars are among the cargo on board the ship. No further details of the specific cars affected are available at this time. We’re in close contact with the shipping company and will share more information in due course.”
Volkswagen meanwhile also released a statement, saying it was aware of an incident “involving a cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic. We are working with local authorities and the shipping company to investigate the cause of the incident,” it continued.
There are now fears the ship could pollute the ocean as it was carrying 2,200 tonnes of fuel and 2200 tonnes of oil, ABC reported. A Portuguese navy vessel and a Portuguese Air Force plane will remain at the scene of the wreckage to look out for any resulting pollution.
Keyword: Ship transporting VW Group vehicles sinks off Portuguese coast