VW fears large lack of vehicles from cargo ship fireplace

Volkswagen Group says the most of the 4,000 vehicles from its a number of manufacturers aboard the Felicity Ace are a complete loss due to a fireplace on board that compelled the crew to desert the container ship within the Atlantic Ocean final week.

“We worry that the hearth on the ship has broken numerous the almost 4,000 Group-brand automobiles to such an extent that they will now not be delivered to prospects,” the corporate stated in launch despatched to Automotive Information Europe Friday. “Extra detailed info just isn’t but obtainable.”

The ship was carrying 3,965 automobiles from the VW, Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley manufacturers destined for the U.S. market.

The fireplace might value VW Group $155 million, according to one consultant’s estimate

VW Group manufacturers and sellers have already begun informing their prospects to search out options. The harm to the automobiles is roofed by insurance coverage, VW stated.

The Panama-registered Felicity Ace caught fireplace on February 16 and was reported adrift greater than 1,000 miles off the coast of Portugal. The 22 crew members on board had been evacuated the identical day.

Rough seas and the fire delayed the salvage operation, whereas heavy tugboats sprayed water to chill the vessel,

A number of the Volkswagen Group automobiles on board had been electrical. Their lithium-ion batteries made the hearth very tough to extinguish, port officers had stated.

By February 21, the hearth died down on a ship, because it ran out of issues to burn. A salvage team was then able to board the vessel.

Of the roughly $438 million whole worth of products aboard the Felicity Ace, Russell Group estimated there are $401 million value of vehicles, Bloomberg reported this week.

“Volkswagen may be very relieved that, in accordance with reviews from the ship-owning firm, no folks had been harmed within the fireplace and no oil spills had been noticed,” the corporate’s assertion stated. “The ship-owning firm at present reviews that there isn’t any extra smoke seen on the ship, a salvage workforce has now boarded the ship and tugs are towing the ship away.”

At the very least eight main incidents involving giant boats and broken vehicles have occurred since 2002.

In 2019, the Grande America destined for Brazil sank with 37 Porsches aboard, together with 4 uncommon, extremely personalized 911 GT2 RS (common costs immediately: $366,487, although specialised ones can method $800,000).