Sank cargo ship may have caught fire from Porsche EV on board; VW sued twice
- It is alleged that a fire on a Porsche Taycan EV may have eventually led to a massive blaze on the cargo ship that was carrying it and thousands of other cars.
A cargo ship that was carrying thousands of new cars in February of 2022 caught fire and eventually sank to the bottom of the ocean. As many as 4,000 vehicles were lost to sea along with it. The incident happened in February of 2022 and made headlines the world over at the time. But the matter is far from settled as allegations have recently surfaced that the fire may have been started by a blaze in a Porsche EV that was also being ferried for a customer.
Built in 2005 as a purpose-built car carrier, the Felicity Ace cargo ship sank off the coast of Portugal's Azores after a fire engulfed it. All crew members were rescued to safety but on board were some of the most expensive cars in the market - 189 Bentley units, 15 Lamborghini Aventadors, 50 Lamborghini Urus units, 297 Audi Q3 units, 147 Audi Q5 Sportback units and as many as 1,110 Porsche units. There were also a number of Volkswagen-branded cars. All of these sank along with the ship. Even during the initial round of investigations, the EVs on board were suspected to be behind the fire.
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None of the cars can be salvaged as the wreckage of the ship is 10,000 feet below surface. But what about the overall losses? The cargo ship's operator, Mitsui OSK Lines of Japan, reportedly suffered losses to the tune of $500 million and has now filed a lawsuit in Stuttgart where Porsche has its headquarter, along with insurer Allianz and four other plaintiffs. A second lawuit is in a court in Braunschweig. Volkswagen, Porsche's parent company, has confirmed another lawsuit as well.
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Bloomberg adds:
The plaintiffs claim that the fire originated from the lithium-ion battery of a Porsche model and allege VW failed to inform them of the danger and necessary precautions needed to transport such vehicles, according to the Stuttgart court. Although the case was filed a year ago, the judges haven’t yet looked into the merits of the suit as the parties have been quarrelling about the amount of collateral that must be posted before it can proceed.