Freighter sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic with 85 rare Lamborghinis - manufacturer is now rushing to help customers

Created: 2022-04-22Updated: 2022-04-22, 2:10 p.m

By: Marc Dimitriu

The freighter Felicity Ace is seen burning in the Atlantic Ocean south of the Azores in this image provided by the Portuguese Navy.

© ---/Marinha Portugal/dpa

After a fire, the freighter "Felicity Ace", which had loaded thousands of new cars, sank in the Atlantic.

The car manufacturer Lamborghini now wants to provide its customers with a quick replacement.

Lisbon - For many Lamborghini customers, the drama of the sunken freighter "Felicity Ace" ends lightly.

The ship, with around 4,000 German cars on board, burst into flames in the middle of the Atlantic on February 16 after a fire broke out in the hold.

The 200 meter long freighter left Emden in Lower Saxony on February 10th and was on its way to Davisville in the US state of Rhode Island, where the ship was supposed to arrive on February 23rd.

Freighter with thousands of new cars sinks after fire in the Atlantic - 85 Lamborghinis among them

The 22 crew members were brought to safety by the Portuguese Air Force on the same day.

The freighter then drifted in the Atlantic for a week.

Upon request, Volkswagen had confirmed that the ship was transporting new cars from the VW Group.

According to media reports, some Porsches, Bentleys and Lamborghinis were also on board.

The ship then sank in the Atlantic on March 1 during an attempt to tow it.

But there is good news for Lamborghini buyers.

"We still had 85 new cars on board," Lamborghini CEO Stephan Ernst Winkelmann told

.

"That's quite a number for a small manufacturer like Automobili Lamborghini."

As the magazine further reports, the VW subsidiary from Sant'Agata Bolognese delivered a total of 8405 new cars worldwide in 2021.

This means that about ten percent of the cars delivered each year have sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic with the "Felicity Ace".

Lamborghini CEO promises buyers replacement later this year

"We have informed the customers of our North American trading partners that all 85 cars ordered will now be built again and even delivered this year," Winkelmann continued.

However, this will not be easy to achieve as the Lamborghini production relies on firm orders and is currently fully booked for more than a year.

According to experts, the total damage should amount to around 250 million euros.

report

, the 85 Lamborghinis alone would be worth at least 30 million euros.

Among them are said to have been several top models.

But Lamborghini CEO Winkelmann also reassured the buyers of these specimens: "Even replacements for those 15 specimens from the last edition of the Aventador, i.e. from the 'Ultimae' series, which have sunk, will still be shipped overseas".