This Thursday, the Felicity Ace, a ship flying the Panamanian flag commissioned in 2005, caught fire off the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, more than 1,600 km from the European continental coast. Leaving from the German port of Emden on February 10, it was due to arrive on the American coast on the 23rd, next Wednesday. The 22 crew members were rescued by the Portuguese Navy and other nearby vessels.
Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini…
198 m long and 32 m wide, the Felicity Ace is a boat specially equipped for the transport of vehicles (a ro-ro, or “ro-ro” in the jargon). It was chartered at the time of the tragedy by a logistics subcontractor of the Volkswagen group. In its bridges: more than 1,100 Porsches, 189 Bentleys, but also Lamborghinis, Audis and Volkswagen ID.4s, Arteons and Golf GTIs. A total of 3,965 vehicles from the German car giant were on board, according to an internal Volkswagen Group email obtained by Bloomberg.
Big delays ahead
If the origin of the disaster remains to be determined, just like the exact state of the vehicles, the manufacturers concerned have already taken the lead. The ex-future owners of Porsche, for example, received a message on the Track Your Dream Drive application, allowing them to follow in real time the progress of their car to the dealership. The American branch, via a press release, announced “supporting its customers and dealers as best they can to find solutions”, inviting those concerned to contact their dealerships.
In any case, this should not be the business of the Volkswagen group, especially in this period when the shortage of electronic components is already having an impact on production rates, and is dragging out delivery times.