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For a week, a ship has been consumed. He carried Lamborghinis, Porsches, Bentleys and Bugattis. The Volkswagen group could lose 260 million francs.
The “Felicity Ace” has been burning for a week off the Azores, with 4,000 vehicles on board.
Archyde.com
A gigantic freighter carrying thousands of vehicles, including 1,100 Porsches, has been on fire off the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean for almost a week. The fire is contained, but not extinguished, according to the site meretmarine.com, which takes up information from the Portuguese Navy.
The “Felicity Ace” departed Emden, Germany on February 10 and was heading to the east coast of the United States, Rhode Island. According to the “New York Times”, the fire broke out on Wednesday, February 16 in the morning, in the hold. The ship was about 200 miles from the island of Terceira in the Azores. All 22 crew members were rescued.
260 million francs in losses?
According to the turbo.fr site, the consequences promise to be “expensive” for the Volkswagen group: the cargo indeed included 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys, plus a few Lamborghinis and Bugattis, among the 4,000 Volkswagen group vehicles on board. Turbo.fr even advances losses of 282 million dollars (nearly 260 million francs) for the group.
The “New York Times” cites the testimony of Matt Farah, car enthusiast and editor of “The Smoking Tire”, who had been waiting since August for his metallic 2022 Boxster Spyder, priced at around 123 ‘000 dollars and modified according to his precise indications. He received some disappointing news last week: “I just got a call from my dealership. My car is now adrift, possibly on fire, in the middle of the ocean.
Matt Farah added that a Porsche representative apologized for the inconvenience. “I’m glad no one was injured in the fire, which is the most important thing. I am sure that whatever happens in the future, Porsche will do the right thing for its customers.”
Supply issues
The blaze comes as German showrooms try to keep up with consumer demand amid supply chain issues caused in part by the pandemic. Low interest rates, higher savings rates and government stimulus measures have boosted demand, while automakers have struggled to cope with a shortage of computer chips.
Also according to Bloomberg, the fire could have been caused by a fire starting on the lithium-ion batteries of a hybrid vehicle transported on the boat. A real disaster for the Volkswagen group, which had already lost more than 2,000 luxury cars on March 12, 2019, in the fire of the “Grande America”.