The fire of the Mitsui OSK Lines vehicle carrier Felicity Ace while sailing west of Ponta Delgada in Portugal could result in damage (which will be covered by insurance) estimated at half a billion dollars.
A team of 16 from the Dutch company Boskalis is already taking care of the safety and recovery, the same company that is currently operating off Corfu for the other fire of the Italian ferry Euroferry Olympia.
As stated by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), the cargo of the vehicle ferry consisted of 3,945 cars of the Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche and Volkswagen brands with an average unit value estimated at $ 99,650.
This would then lead to a total of half a billion dollars in cargo loss.
Although the flames were extinguished, the precious cargo appears to have been compromised, as well as the ship that was launched in 2005 and was valued at $ 24.5 million.
In particular, Porsche has already contacted its US customers (to whom the shipment which departed on 10 February from the German port of Emden was destined) with a message informing them of the Felicty Ace accident and delays in deliveries.
For both the Japanese shipping company and the German Volkswagen sports car group, this is not the first time that a serious sea transport problem has occurred in recent times.
In January 2019, a sister ship of Mitsui OSK Lines, the Sincerity Ace, caught fire off Oahu while sailing with a cargo of Japanese cars to Hawaii.
In that case there were 4 victims and one missing person.
Also in March 2019, Grimaldi's container ship Grande America caught fire and then sank in the Bay of Biscay.
In the cargo there were about 2,000 cars including some precious Porsche 911 GT2 RS specimens lying on the seabed at a depth of 4,000 meters, together with some Audi RS 4 and RS 5.
As noted by captain Rahul Khanna, global head marine risk consulting from AGCS "Over the past decade, fires are the third leading cause of ship losses and reached a maximum frequency of 10 in 4 years at the end of 2020. The biggest concerns for the sector remain fires for garage ships , for RoRo ferries and container ships. In particular, automobile ships may be more exposed to fire and stability problems. "
To facilitate the transport of vehicles - explains the AGSC maritime safety manager - "the interior spaces are not divided into sections protected by bulkheads (as in other merchant ships) and this can have a negative impact on fire safety. fire on a vehicle or the short circuit of an electric car battery - explains Rahul Khanna - and the problem can get out of control very quickly. Furthermore, the vehicles are very close and therefore not easily accessible once the load is completed. that wasn't enough The large volume of air inside the open garage decks provides a large amount of oxygen to fuel the flames in the event of a fire. "