A cargo ship with Porsche and Volkswagen cars caught fire in the Atlantic and is drifting

A freighter called the Felicity Ace was stranded in the Atlantic when several cars inside caught fire. He is believed to have carried some limited-edition Porsche vehicles, as well as VW vehicles, among other things.

The Portuguese navy confirmed on Wednesday morning, February 16, that one of its patrol boats came to the aid of the Felicity Ace car carrier transiting the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Washington Post. The ship transmitted a distress signal after a fire broke out on one of the cargo decks, and the ship was declared "out of control" shortly thereafter. Fortunately, it was reported that all 22 crew members on board were successfully evacuated from the ship. 

The ship left Germany for the USA.

Felicity Ace left the port of Emden, Germany on February 10 and is believed to have been transporting vehicles from Porsche and other Volkswagen Auto Group brands, among others. The ship was originally supposed to arrive in Davisville, Rhode Island on the morning of February 23rd.

The crew left the ship

After transmitting a distress call on Wednesday morning, the Panamanian-flagged vessel was quickly overtaken by a Portuguese Navy patrol boat and four merchant ships in the area. According to Naftika Chronika, the Felicity Ace crew left the ship in a lifeboat and were picked up by the Resilient Warrior oil tanker, owned by the Greek company Polembros Shipping Limited. The 11 crew members were reportedly picked up from the Resilient Warrior by a Portuguese Navy helicopter. According to reports from the scene, work to control the situation continues.

The ship kept burning

Felicity Ace was built in 2005, is 656 feet long and 104 feet wide, and has a lifting capacity of 17,738 4,000 tons. When fully loaded, the ship could transport about cars. There are currently no details about the cause of the fire other than that it originated in the ship's cargo hold. The ship can be seen smoking in the distance in photos taken from the Enduring Warrior shared by Naftika Chronicle.

Porsche statements

Porsche stated that "our first thoughts are with the 22 crew members of the merchant ship Felicity Ace, all of whom we understand are safe and healthy as a result of their rescue by the Portuguese Navy following reports of fire on board." . The company advised interested customers to contact their dealers, noting that “we believe some of our vehicles are among the cargo on board the ship. There are no further details on the specific vehicles affected at this time; We are in close contact with the shipping company and will share more information in due course.”

Some Porsche customers may be particularly concerned that their limited edition vehicles were damaged and destroyed in the incident. In the past, the company has struggled to convert limited edition vehicles such as the Porsche 911 GT2 RS when the number was lost when a freighter sank in 2019.

Volkswagen investigates the causes of the accident

Meanwhile, Volkswagen said that "we are aware of an incident today involving a freighter carrying Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic," adding that "we are not aware of any injuries at this time. We are working with local authorities and the shipping company to find out the cause of the incident."  

As the auto industry is already grappling with supply chain issues, this incident will be another blow. However, from this story it is good that no one was hurt, and the crew was safely rescued. Some vehicles may be lost causing a lot of pain and frustration, but hopefully all damaged vehicles will be replaced in due course.

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