Felicity Ace sunk in Portugal – The Motoring Annual

Volkswagen’s worst nightmare has come true. The Felicity Ace boat, which caught fire last week with nearly 4,000 vehicles, sank off the coast of Portugal, completely dampening hopes of recovering valuable cargo.

The sea that made the boat even better

The Felicity Ace circled 45 degrees toward its starboard side, trying to tow the boat into rough, rippling seas, the ship’s operator said. Joao Mendes Cabacos, master of the nearest harbor on File Island, told Reuters the Felicity Ace with the Panama flag sank when towing efforts began due to construction problems caused by fire and rough seas. At the beginning of the tow the water had already entered the boat. The boat sank due to adverse weather.

There were more than 1,100 Porsche on board

The Volkswagen ship features VW, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini brand models, sailing from the German port of Emden to Rhode Island in the United States when the fire broke out on February 16. The fires lasted more than a week after the crew aboard the Panama-flagged ship were washed away. In total, the ship was carrying 1,900 Audi, 1,100 Porsches, 500 Volkswagen, 189 Bentley and 85 Lamborghini.

The lips were sealed

Volkswagen declined to comment at this time. The German automaker feared that most of the cars on board would not be rescued. Brands and dealerships have informed their customers that vehicles going to the United States will not be delivered. Damage to cars is covered by insurance, the automaker said last week. About $ 438 million worth of goods in US currency were on board, including $ 401 million worth of cars.

Currently there is no environmental damage to the oil slick and its contents on the surface.

With information from Automotive News

About the author

Benoit Chart / Owner and Editor-in-Chief Benoit Chart has been practicing automotive journalism for nearly 30 years. He studied with Daniel Herod and Cornet de Root from 1992 to 2001. He is the founder, co-owner and editor-in-chief of L’Anuel de L’Automobile, which he has published since 2001. He hosted shows. V in Historia and RPM and RPM + in Road Legends. On the radio since 1986, he rebroadcasts on Cogeco this year and has put the official website of L’Annuel de l’automobile online, as well as participating in the annual Auto.ca’s Passion Auto on RDS for the second year in a row.