Vessel Containing Luxury Cars Still On Fire A Week Later As Eye-Watering Cost Of Blaze Is Estimated
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Featured Image Credit: Portuguese Navy
Nearly a week after the Felicity Ace caught fire, the ship is still burning, with the eye-watering cost of the blaze having now been estimated.
On Tuesday, February 16, the Felicity Ace caught fire while travelling from Germany to Rhode Island. While all 22 crew members on board were rescued unharmed from the burning vessel, the ship's luxury car cargo remains burning at sea. It's thought many of the electric cars' lithium-ion batteries are prolonging the fire.
Another shot of the abandoned Felicity Ace on fire pic.twitter.com/K5KrnQCdZK
— Mike Schuler (@MikeSchuler) February 17, 2022
The luxury cars included over 1,000 Porches, 189 Bentleys and thousands of other Volkswagen Group vehicles.
As the fire continues, insurance risk analysts at Russell Group MD have totaled up the estimated cost of the blaze, and it's staggering.
As per the Express, the analysts found that the total value on board the ship was $438 million (£322 million). It is suggested that $400 million (£290 million) of that total value was from the now-burning luxury cars.
Suki Basi from the insurance group said of the estimates: 'These figures showed once again the precariousness of global supply chains.
UPDATE: Li-ion batteries in the EVs on board the vehicle carrier Felicity Ace have caught fire & the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish. It wasn't clear whether the batteries first sparked the fire.
— Sawyer Merritt 📈🚀 (@SawyerMerritt) February 18, 2022
Around 1,100 Porsches & 189 Bentleys were on board, no Teslas. https://t.co/VAj6Bak88c pic.twitter.com/gmzRrW1588
'The incident comes at a bad time for global carmakers who are in the middle of a supply chain crisis sourcing semiconductors, resulting in new delays for new cars'.
The analyst also noted that the loss of the ship's cargo 'will not do a great deal in instilling trust in consumers'.
With the fire still burning it is too dangerous to board the ship, so firefighters are trying to keep the blaze under control by cooling the outside structure.
Packed with over 3,900 Lamborghini, Audi and Porsche, the transporter 'Felicity Ace' gutted in flames in the mid of the Atlantic Ocean. The crew members were rescued by the Portuguese Navy and Airforce.#FelicityAce pic.twitter.com/118Psq3m1q
— Urooj Khan TOI (@UroojkhanTOI) February 19, 2022
According to the owners of the ship, Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL), the firefighting efforts are still going strong.
A statement from the company noted: 'Two large tugs with firefighting equipment will arrive on the site today Feb 21 AM local time, and will start spraying water to Felicity Ace together with the patrol boat with the initial salvage team onboard already onsite to cool down the heat from the vessel'.
In addition, the arrival of the two tug boats is expected to 'assist the vessel from drifting away and join the monitoring of the vessel'.
An additional salvage craft is expected to arrive from Rotterdam on February 26.
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