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The Felicity Ace with thousands of Porsches , Bentleys,Lamborghinis and Audis has sunk

Photo released by the Portuguese Navy on March 1 showing the Felicity Ace badly burned and listing to starboard. Photo: Marinha PT

It has been in the news the last few weeks. The Felicity Ace, a ship carrying 4000 brand new cars from the Volkswagen Group, including Porches, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis, had a severe fire. Fortunately, all people on board were rescued. However, it was clear to everyone that most, if not all of the cars, would suffer damage from the fire or smoke. The ship’s manager, MOL Ship Management (Singapore), confirmed that the vessel sank around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday approximately 220 nautical miles off the Azores Islands

The emergency services had not expected that the ship would sink. The car ship Felicity Ace caught fire two weeks ago due to a still unknown reason. The many electric cars on board made the fire intense and difficult to extinguish. The fire could eventually be extinguished, but the Portuguese Navy now reports that the ship had become unstable and sank during the salvage operation that had started on February 24. According to the shipping company, high waves would have caused the ship to sink.

Felicity Ace seen burning in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands. Picture was released Friday, February 18, 2022 by the Portuguese Navy. Photo courtesy Portuguese Navy
Felicity Ace seen burning in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands. Picture was released Friday, February 18, 2022 by the Portuguese Navy. Photo courtesy Portuguese Navy

The ship was on its way to the United States from the German port of Emden. Two days after the fire broke out, the ship’s 22 crew members were evacuated, leaving it adrift.

Inside the ship were at least 1,100 Porsches, nearly 2,000 Audis, 189 Bentleys, and some 100 Lamborghinis. The specialist risk assessment company Russell group previously estimated that the fire on the cargo ship could cost the Volkswagen car group 137 million euros. The value of the lost cargo is estimated at at least 300 million euros.

In times of scarcity of car chips and parts, this is a huge loss. Before the ship sank, there was still some hope some parts of the car could be rescued. All hope is gone now.