If you’re awaiting delivery of a new Porsche, Bentley, Audi, Volkswagen, or even a Lamborghini, the Portuguese Navy has some bad news for you. Your new car may be on fire, adrift in the Atlantic.
It’s only February, but we’re pretty comfortable saying that may be the strangest opening we’ll get to publish this year.
Car Carrier Burning at Sea
It’s about a cargo ship. The Panama-flagged car carrier Felicity Ace departed from Emden, Germany, on February 10, carrying a cargo of nearly 4,000 cars built by various automakers owned by the Volkswagen Group. The ship should have unloaded cars in Davisville, Rhode Island, this week. But a fire broke out on the ship near the Azores. The vessel’s crew had to abandon ship.
Portuguese Navy helicopter crews rescued the sailors. But the ship and its cargo are drifting, and the fire is spreading. CNN reports that “the ship’s owners have arranged for a tow as it continues to burn.”
Audis, Bentleys, Porsches, VWs, Lambos Likely Lost
A VW group spokesperson confirms that at least 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys are onboard, with the rest of the total probably consisting of VW and Audi-badged cars. Even some Lamborghini exotic cars are aboard, according to trade publication Automotive News.
“Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew members of the merchant ship Felicity Ace are safe and well,” a Porsche spokesperson said.
One thousand one hundred cars represent about 1.5% of the cars Porsche sold in the U.S. last year. That would be a significant loss for the fewer than 200 Porsche dealerships in the United States in an ordinary year. But, in the current difficult auto market, shoppers may have already purchased most of the cars. A worldwide shortage of microchips has left automakers unable to produce cars fast enough to meet demand.
Related: Ordering a Car From the Factory – Everything You Need to Know
Dealers Contacting Affected Buyers
Porsche dealers have already begun contacting some order-holders to let them know their cars may be lost. The company hasn’t declared how it will respond. In 2019, a cargo ship carrying 37 Porsche vehicles sank off the coast of France. Porsche then chose to build and deliver replacements, even going so far as to restart production of a discontinued car to complete the orders. But rebuilding 1,100 vehicles is a much more significant endeavor.
Cargo ships of the Felicity Ace’s size carry insurance, but the staggering financial loss involved in an incident that destroys one can tie that money up in litigation for many years. The 2019 loss of a car carrier loaded with 4,300 cars from six manufacturers resulted in one of history’s costliest shipping insurance claims. Global shipping news site TradeWinds estimates that losses in that incident have totaled nearly $1 billion, with recovery efforts still ongoing.
For now, Porsche advises those awaiting delivery of a new vehicle to “maintain contact with the dealer with which their order was placed,” but cautions, “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.”
