Electric cars banned on ferries: shipping company reacts to sinking of VW freighter

A Norwegian ferry line bans all electrified cars on board - in the event of a fire, crew members are overwhelmed and passengers are at risk.

It's been about a year since the "Felicity Ace" caught fire and sank off the Azores - a freighter loaded with almost 4,000 cars from the VW Group.

Since then, the entire load has been resting and rusting with the ship on the seabed, including many expensive and rare sports cars, some of which were reproduced despite being limited.

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Hot thesis: Did an electric car cause the fire on the "Felicity Ace"?

© Marinha Portugal/dpa

The cause of the fire has never been reliably established.

However, one of the charged electric vehicles, whose battery could have caught fire, is considered a possible origin.

Fires have also broken out in electric buses.

Electric cars banned on ferries: shipping company reacts to sinking of VW freighter

In principle, however, electric cars are no more at risk of fire than combustion engines (even if this fake crash test should suggest that).

Nevertheless, the first shipping company has now drawn the conclusion from the accident: The Norwegian line Havila Kystruten no longer transports cars with electric motors on its ferries.

"Electric, hybrid and hydrogen cars are prohibited on board," says the question and answer section of their portal, as reported

.

Ten cars with internal combustion engines that we will miss

Ten cars with internal combustion engines that we will miss

Electric cars banned on ferries: crew cannot fight fire

A risk analysis concluded that the fire in such a car would require a particularly costly rescue operation, said shipping company boss Bent Martini in the industry

.

Unlike a burning conventional car, the crew cannot fight it effectively, and passengers are endangered.

Havila Kystruten's ferries operate between the Norwegian ports of Bergen and Kirkenes.

The electric ban is also surprising because the Scandinavian country is considered a pioneer in the conversion to electric vehicles in Europe.

List of rubrics: © Marinha Portugal/dpa